Solo Ain't No Holding Back

[Nylah Shepherd]

19 Summer 519 AV

Brega's House - Afternoon

It had been a long night for Nylah the previous night. She worked from dusk to nearly dawn, satisfying customers one after another. There was only one time some perv tried to have her longer than he paid for, and a guard had to come in to take care of it. Of course, some puny vagik stood no chance against a trained goon, and it was over before it started; one swift punch and he was out. But other than that, everything worked smoothly. When Nylah came to bed after cleaning up, she immediately passed out.

She woke up at around 13 bells. No one had woken her up, it was a peaceful return to the land of the conscious, which meant she wasn’t expected to work any time soon. Perhaps Brega was giving her extra rest after the busy night. Nylah sat up in bed, and noticed her roommate-slash-guard Bronwen wasn’t in her bed across the room. She probably did have to wake up and work, before Nylah woke up. Seeing her empty bed, Nylah couldn’t help but sigh; they had only been roommates for a couple days, but they hadn’t talked since their first day. Though Nylah had known Bronwen beforehand, it was only her name and the fact that she was a guard for Brega’s House. It was weird, sleeping feet away from a near-stranger. Hopefully they would get to talk soon.

At the foot of Nylah’s bed, between it and the wall, was her dog Titan’s cage. He was a guard dog… at least, he was supposed to be. He was trained to be a guard dog, after all. But he rarely listened to Nylah. She hadn’t gained his respect or trust yet. Of course, if she was in real danger then he would leap into action, but if she wanted him to do something specific? Fat chance he’d listen. Right now, he was sleeping. The cage door was open, as it normally was when Nylah was in the room. It was only if he’d be in the room alone that she shut the door.

Nylah was barely getting out of bed when the door opened. She hoped it was Bronwen so they could actually talk to get to know each other, but instead it was a fellow whore, “Cherry Pye”. Obviously that wasn’t her real name; a number of workers used aliases while working at Brega’s. Nylah never liked the woman; she was far too bitchy towards her fellow hookers. She acted like she was the most important person in the world. It reminded Nylah of her step-sister Milita, who was also conceited, but Cherry was far worse. At least Milita didn’t stoop so low as to disrespect the very guards who protected her. When Nylah saw her unnaturally blonde-headed face peek through the door, she immediately felt a scowl spread across her face. ”What do you want, Cherry?”

At first, Cherry ignored her. She glanced around the room, as if looking for Bronwen or anyone else in the room. But then she stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her. Her body language was stiff and tense, and when she spoke it was sharp and aggressive. ”Let’s cut the shyke. Last night, during the rush. You kept taking my men. You owe me those mizas.”

[Nylah Shepherd]

19 Summer 519 AV

Brega's House - Afternoon

Nylah blinked, thinking she misheard Cherry. ”I… what?”

Cherry narrowed her eyes. ”You heard me, vagik, do you have dung in your ears? You kept taking my jobs. They would be interested in me, about to pay me, but then you would walk by and they’d go to you instead. You stole from me. How many mizas did you get? I’m taking them back.”

”Are you kidding me?” Nylah stood up, scoffing. ”I don’t owe you shyke! It’s not my fault they decided to change their mind and go after real beauty. At least when my top comes off, they actually get what they paid for!”

Cherry made an angry choking sound. ”Are you suggesting I lie about my assets?”

Nylah could feel the tension in the air. A fight was coming. But she didn’t care; she wanted to let Cherry know exactly how she felt about her. How dare she barge into her room and try to take her earnings! ”I’m not suggesting, I know you are! I’ve seen you stuff the rags in your shirt, when you think no one is looking! Is your arse stuffed, too? Men don’t like liars, you know. They want what they see!”

Cherry yelled, and lunged for Nylah. Though Nylah had expected the fight, Cherry’s speed still caught her off-guard. Cherry grabbed Nylah by the shoulders, shoving her down onto the bed. She raised a fist, but Nylah lashed out and grabbed her face, trying to obscure her vision. Cherry cursed, muffled by the hand, and brought her fist down right on Nylah’s nose. There was a sick crunch, and Nylah let out a shriek as pain flooded her face. Cherry brought her fist back up, but Nylah wasn’t going to give her the chance. She dug her fingers into her face, and with all her strength shoved her to the side, where she stumbled and fell on her rear, gripping the cot for support.

Nylah jumped up, pushed Cherry onto the ground and sitting on her chest and pinning her hands with her feet. Cherry snarled, struggling under her grip. ”Get off me, you vagik! Get off!”

Instead of getting off, though, Nylah began attacking Cherry. She brought her fists down on her face, one after another. ”You’re the vagik, thinking I owe you mizas for petching better than you! Let’s see you get anything with this!” And with this, she swung with all her might onto her nose, even harder than Cherry had with her.

Cherry screamed. ”Vagik! Vagik! I’m going to tell everyone you’re unclean! You’re diseased, you filth! I’ll have it so not even a true lover will want to sleep with you!”

Nylah scowled. ”Coming from you! Do you even wash yourself after a client? Do you know what a bath is? Is your lotion literal shyke?”

That’s when the door swung open, and guards rushed into the room to separate the girls. It took them a minute, because the two kept trying to attack each other again, but eventually Cherry was dragged from the room and a guard blocked the door to prevent Nylah from leaving.

[Nylah Shepherd]

19 Summer 519 AV

Brega's House - Afternoon/Evening

It took almost a full bell for Nylah to calm down. She roared at the guard to let her get to Cherry, even smacking him across the face and trying to kick him where it hurt the most. But she, like the perv from before, stood no change against the guard. He grabbed her arms, forced them at her sides, and had her stand there. She struggled against her grip, but he was too strong. She cursed him, his family, Cherry’s family, anyone she could think of. Only when she started to calm down did he let go and start tending to her wounds.

Nylah didn’t realize her nose was bleeding profusely until the guard wiped it with a cloth, and she saw that it was soaked dark red. He had her lay down on the bed, sticking the cloth in each nostril to help absorb the blood. She grumbled under her breath, cursing Cherry and hoping she was just as messed up, but the guard snapped at her to shut up about Cherry so she did.

She looked down the bed to Titan’s cage. The dog was awake, watching her intently, and Nylah spit at him. ”You’re a piece of shyke, didn’t even step in to protect your owner?” Titan growled, reacting to her harsh tone, but she didn’t care. ”You were a waste of mizas, maybe I’ll just give you back to the kennel.” The guard told her, once again, to shut up.

After taking care of her immediate wounds, dabbing bruises with damp clothes and checking on her nose, the guard left her alone. Bronwen took her place, sitting on her bed and watching to make sure Nylah didn’t try to leave to find Cherry. Nylah assured her she wouldn’t, though it was a blatant lie. Nylah had plans. No one treated her that way and just got away with it.

Fortunately, Bronwen was known to be an avid druggie. The room was filled with smoke for most of the time Nylah rested, and after a couple more bells Nylah looked over to realize she had passed out on her bed. Immediately, Nylah shot up (ignoring the sudden pounding in her head) and crept to the door. But then she stopped. She needed something… so she tiptoed back to her dresser, pulling out her double-bladed dagger within its scabbard. Tying the scabbard on, she put on her cloak to cover it and quietly left the room

Except for a couple bruises, she looked cleaned up. Her nose stopped bleeding, at least. She walked down to the first floor, stopped by a couple guards to ask what she was doing. ”Shopping trip,” she answered. She needed to buy some ointment for her bruises. When she was at the first floor, though, she spotted Cherry walking towards the front door. Perfect timing. Her shift was over. Cherry was one of the girls who didn’t live in the house like Nylah; most who used an alias like Cherry did so to keep their personal life and their work life separate.

Nylah quietly followed her a couple yards back, far enough away where it wasn’t obvious. Cherry never bothered looking over her shoulder or anything as she walked. ”Stupid vagik,” Nylah smiled to herself. ”Don’t you know how dangerous Sunberth is?” At least with her, she was part of Daggerhand; there were always eyes watching, ready to assist a brother or sister out.

[Nylah Shepherd]

19 Summer 519 AV

Sunberth Streets - Evening

It was when Cherry turned into an alleyway, probably for a shortcut, that Nylah decided it was the perfect change to confront her. She silently unsheathed her dagger, and ran up to her. She grabbed her wrist from behind, twisting it behind her back and shoving her into a wall. ”Hello again, vagik.” She growled. ”Thought it was over? Well, you messed with the wrong whore.”

Cherry immediately started panicking. ”What the petch? Nylah! Let go of me! What do you think you’re doing?”

”Teaching you what happens when you mess with a prostitute who just so happens to hold grudges,” Nylah snarled. ”Trying to steal from me and humiliate me through fighting was your last mistake. How about you don’t get any business at all?”

Cherry was starting to sob. ”Okay, okay! I’m sorry! Listen, I’ll leave you alone! I-I’ll quit, is that what you want? Just leave me alone!” She sounded so pitiful. She didn’t even seem to try and put up a fight, struggle or anything. Blinded by anger, Nylah thought it was pitiful. Cowards never lasted long in Sunberth. With the Daggerhand and knowing stories of what happens to their victims, Nylah knew how short a coward’s life was. This wasn’t a city of mercy, and Nylah wasn’t a woman of mercy to match.

She pulled Cherry away from the wall, but to keep her from trying to run she lifted her dagger to Cherry’s throat. ”I’ll give you a moment to pray to your gods. Anything else, I’ll just finish quicker.”

Apparently, Cherry didn’t listen to her. She immediately tried to scream for help, but Nylah didn’t let it last. She pulled the dagger back, and plunged it into the side of her throat. Cherry’s half-scream immediately cut off. Blood oozed and squirted from the wound, and she began to grow limp within moments. Nylah quickly let go of her wrist, instead wrapping her arm around her body to keep her upright. She wasn’t going to just let her bleed out here. No, she had a plan.

She took out the dagger, wiping it off on the side of Cherry’s shirt before sliding back into its scabbard. Using one hand, she unfastened her cloak and pulled it around Cherry instead, putting the hood on to hide the stab wound. She wrapped Cherry’s arm around her neck, making it appear that Cherry was a passed-out drunk instead of a quickly dying victim to anyone they passed. It was getting dark at this point anyway, so no one would have a real look at them.

But dragging a limp almost-corpse was a lot harder than Nylah thought. Usually, with the Daggerhand, if she had to kill someone she either had help disposing of the body or someone else did it for her entirely. It took her nearly five chimes to drag Cherry’s body out of the alley, and they still had a ways to go.

[Nylah Shepherd]

19 Summer 519 AV

Sunberth - Evening

In total, it took Nylah nearly thirty chimes to drag Cherry from their initial stabbing point to the river that flowed through Sunberth. At the edge of the river, Nylah tried adjusting herself under Cherry’s weight, but it was near impossible. She eventually gave up, and just dropped her onto the hard dirt ground. The body crumpled into itself, blood still trickling out of the wound. Most got either on Nylah’s cloak or on Cherry’s clothes. Nylah wasn’t worried about any that dripped onto the ground, though; a blood trail leading to the river wasn’t exactly unheard of. Most people would think the poor vagik before continuing on their day. Considering they were within Daggerhand territory, most would think it was just gang business.

After dropping Cherry, Nylah knelt down to lay her out with her feet pointed to the river. Nylah had no problem getting wet; she’d go into the river to drag Cherry’s body in. There was a point in her life where the river was how she bathed. It wasn’t the cleanest water source, but in Sunberth you really couldn’t complain. Nearly everyone had terrible water.

She went to Cherry’s feet, and began to drag. It took a while; dragging on the ground was even harder than holding her up. She had to keep adjusting her grip, adjusting the body, or taking a break entirely to catch her breath and make sure her hands weren’t pulling themselves out of socket. When she managed to get Cherry’s legs in the river, Nylah pushed herself out and spent the rest of the time pushing Cherry into the river in her stead. When she was fully in the water, her body quickly began to be pulled along the current.

Nylah watched for a moment, ankle-deep in water, and smirked. [color=#77C3C7]”Bye bye, Cherry Pye. Enjoy your swim.” She nodded, satisfied, and started to make her way back to Brega’s taking a different path than she did to the river. The only thing she was annoyed about was that she was without a cloak, now. She felt so… exposed. She’d have to buy a new one, and who knew how much that would cost. Though, it was summer so hopefully it never got too cold for her to need one. She could live without one for a season or two.

She returned to Brega’s, and no one suspected a thing. The guards she talked to on her way out weren’t even on duty. She greeted a couple of her coworkers as she walked towards the staircase leading up, and peacefully made it to her room. Titan was still asleep in his cage, but opened his eyes slightly when Nylah walked into the room. Bronwen was still passed out, only in a different position. Nylah’s gaze lingered on her. She was pretty, even laying there with her mouth half-open and sprawled out on the bed. Nylah could always appreciate a beautiful woman who could also kick your ass.

Nylah silently crept to the dresser, putting away her dagger and scabbard. She climbed into bed, and peacefully fell asleep knowing not only would Cherry Pye not bother about “stealing” mizas from her, but she wouldn’t have to worry about seeing Cherry Pye ever again.