Closed Strangers

[Rissi]

10th Fall 524AV

It was before noon and a rare day that Rissi wasn’t working. Normally she tended to avoid spending too much time on the streets of Sunberth and instead favoured quick darts between buildings and shops. Today however she was feeling a little more adventurous.
Sighing to herself in the dim light of her home, she’d grabbed a couple of gold and silver miza and slipped them into her undergarments before tucking her dagger into the waistband of her pants. Then she’d checked that her backpack was empty before pulling it on. There was no point taking much with her, the paranoia she felt from how unruly the locals could be had prevented her from ever taking much anywhere with her.
Finally she was ready and as she stepped out of her front door the scent of salty water and rotting seaweed hit her nose causing her to frown. It wasn’t an unfamiliar scent, but today somehow it felt stronger than usual. Perhaps an unlucky breeze had blown it in her direction, or perhaps she had just been better at ignoring it before.
Cautiously she glanced around before shutting and locking her door, then she set off down the streets. She didn’t have anywhere in particular in mind though her feet seemed to lead her in the direction of the shoreline and as she walked, the scent of salt and rotting seaweed grew stronger and stronger causing a grimace to spread across her features.
It wasn’t too long until something, or more someone, caught her eye from a good few buildings away. Most of the locals of Sunberth were scrawny and weak from years of malnourishment and so the tall, muscular man that towered above most of the usual folk seemed to stand out for miles and the glances from people that passed by him told Rissi that everyone was noticing him.
While normally the nature of the city left Rissi too paranoid to spend any amount of time in any one place, her curiosity of the tall man was beginning to overtake that and so she began to slow down to a dawdle, her eyes darting throughout the street though mostly lingering on the tall muscular man and the few people that passed him who seemed to also be intrigued by the obvious stranger.

[Watu]

The large man was still getting the hang of this place, and if he knew better he would have only brought a few coins with him, but he wasn't yet aware that the people of Sunberth could smell money on a person and he certainly was a person that did not know the city well, he was actually approached by one of the natives of the city, an elderly man, who looked as if he was under the influence of something, the man was holding his hand in his pocket which the bigger man was unsure as to why. Then the elderly figure began approaching and the stench of the man was certainly not someone he wanted approaching, his nose wrinkled. The elderly man spoke in a deep voice, trying to be threatening with a garbled tone that made Watu think it was alcohol he was drinking that made him intoxicated. “Ye got money, stranger gimme a coin or two” The large Dhani was not fazed, even without his increased strength while transformed this man didn't scare him. Watu gently spoke in basic with a sinister accent. “Back away Sscum” his mouth hissed out the sound of the s. The man didn't look like he was going to back off, and some of the people staring backed off, while others watched, interested in the ongoing interaction.

[Rissi]

Rissi had all but come to a stop when she noticed someone finally approaching the man. She had guessed that it wouldn’t be long until someone approached the newcomer, although she hadn’t quite expected to be around when it finally happened.
Not wanting to pass by the scene, she hung back still observing the tall man but now checking to the older man slightly more often than the other people in the area, some of whom were doing the same as Rissi and hanging around to see what happened, while others were quickly leaving the area, not wanting to get dragged into anything they didn’t need to be a part of.

A slight smirk spread across the girl's face as she overheard the older man making it clear he was after money. She knew few people that carried much money with them as they walked through the streets of Sunberth. She herself rarely carried anything more a gold miza unless she knew what she was wanting to buy, though she was unsure if the seemingly new arrival to the city would have any clue about that habit.

As the tall man hissed out some threatening words, Rissi couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, uncertain as to whether he was oblivious as to what Sunberth could be like, or whether he was actively looking for a fight. Either way she was prepared to watch and wait to see the outcome, and perhaps scrounge a few things from whatever was left behind.

Not wanting to be close to anything, she moved to the side of the street, looking over a building while keeping the two men in the corner of her eye. She would pretend to be scrutinizing the shoddy workmanship of the building as she paid attention to almost anything but the building itself, after all she didn’t want to miss the chance to snatch up anything that might have been dropped in whatever would ensue.

[Watu]

“Now young man, you should respect your elders!” Called out the old man, drawing a short blade from his pocket, it was more of a mere scrap of metal than a proper knife, but Watu now realized what the old man was doing with his hand in his pocket, and backed away for a moment, staggering slightly at the surprise. “I was happy to take a few coins from you but now I think you need a lesson!” Watu was not amused and his eyes lit up with anger, towards the old man, towards this confusing place he was forced to live in, and he thought back to his training in taking down foes, not a lot of it went through the forefront of his mind as most of the training applied to his snakelike forms, but he did secure his stance continuing to glare at the old man. “You do not want thiss" he growled, trying to force as much menace into his tone as he could and while the old man was shaken, arrogance or inebriation stopped the threat from taking any root, He lunged and Watu grabbed at him trying to put his free hand into a hold but only managing to push his wrist away, avoiding the knife.

[Rissi]

Out of the corner of her eye Rissi saw the glint of metal and a brief grimace spread across her face, it was pretty common to see people carry some form of weapon and she had half expected to see one but it was always an uncomfortable sight to her, seeing one drawn at least. This time she was somewhat glad to see the taller man move backwards. He may have seemed a bit cocky to her, but at least he seemed to have some common sense.

Hearing the tall man speak again, Rissi couldn’t help but notice the drawn out ‘s’ and she furled her brow, briefly turning her head towards the two more directly in time to see the older man lunging towards the tall man, brandishing his knife, only to be blocked, his wrist being pushed away. Rissi’s expression changed to one of curiosity and a slight smirk spread across her face as she made a mental note to try to speak to the tall stranger, if she was able to at least.

She was half tempted to approach the two an attempt to break up the fight though she was struggling to read their expressions and gauge their intent. Still she allowed herself to slowly start walking in that direction, her hand reaching under her shirt to rest on the hilt of her dagger for ease of access. She was aware that nobody else in the area would interfere, unless one of the gangs came out to play, and she knew that she was likely about to make a very risky decision but ultimately she was interested in seeing how things would play out in the time it took her to get close enough to actually do anything.

[Watu]

The old man looked on in surprise, his eyes were angry, this person actually wasn't intimidated by his weapon, his eyes analyzed Watu who was staring back silently and he tried to throw the knife with a smug look on his face thinking the thrown dagger would take him down. Watu had noticed the intention but it was a bit too late, he managed to dodge the blade hitting his chest where it had been but it had cut his arm instead, and he found himself lunging towards the old man who had just tossed away his weapon, Balling up a fist and punching him with his entire body weight, one moment had passed after the old man had stopped after the strike, cried out in pain and decided that falling on the ground would be better than another hit. Watu looked around, wondering if anyone would step in. his annoyance and anger turned to worry of the repercussions if anyone else where to join in.

[Rissi]

Seeing the older man throwing his dagger, Rissi grimaced slightly before realising that that meant only fists would now be used in whatever happened next and a look of relief spread across her face. She wasn’t combat-wise but she knew better than to get involved in a fight where weapons were being used.
Before she could step in, the tall man had punched out and knocked the old man to the floor and she nodded slightly, impressed at the speed of the punch before glancing over the tall man, noticing that cut on his arm that must have come from the thrown dagger. In her eyes he was lucky that the dagger had only hit his arm and not his chest or throat.

”Today’s too nice a day to see a death…” she murmured to herself as she frowned slightly and decided to get involved and approaching the old man on the floor, one hand still resting on the hilt of her dagger, hidden beneath her shirt, and the other hand outstretched. “Uncle, uncle you should be in the taverns, not picking fights with stronger men!” she spoke warmly, unsure of the man's name but wanting to seem friendly and non-threatening as she repeatedly glanced between the two men.
The man on the floor looked at her with a displeased expression before he finally took her hand, not really making much of an attempt to get up from the floor.

”Where do you usually drink? Near the sea or more in the commons?” she questioned not really able to remember the names of the taverns. She’d never bothered learning the names of the taverns and had just gone into whichever tavern took her fancy on the day. Finally the man began pulling himself up from the floor and suddenly started to charge at the tall stranger again, his chest moving faster than his legs.
Rissi hurriedly shook his hand off, causing the old man to lose his balance and tumble to the floor again.
”Shyke… dirty vagik!” Rissi half hissed wiping a layer of grime off her hand onto her pants as she half stepped, half jumped back out of the way.

It appeared as though the combination of whatever the man had been drinking before the encounter and the punch had left the man off balance and struggling to move with any accuracy and Rissi once again glanced at the tall stranger now approaching him.
”Man’s not worth it, should go before it becomes more of a scene.” Rissi suggested, about to start walking down the street away from the old man still struggling to get up from the floor.

[Watu]

His fear was quickly realized, and he winced finally feeling the blades marring of his skin and the discomfort it brought, but then he realized that fear wasn't what he needed right now, she seemed more concerned for the old man who had tried to take his coin, he watched the scene, hesitating to walk away and took stock of the wound, it wasn't too bad, it was not a superficial one but it also wasn't one he feared would be much of a threat with a quick glance over. The elderly man glared at her, Incredibly rude Watu scowled, the girl had clearly tried to stop this fight to prevent it from going any further and this old man clearly cared little for the effort as he had tried to lunge himself towards Watu, his body moved back but the woman managed to send him sprawling in an attempt to stop the fight, he noted that she had instinctively moved away from the fight as well. He moved towards the man as he struggled to get up, clearly intoxicated, almost ready to pin him to the ground and make him apologize to both him and the newcomer woman who had tried to intervene in the fight, but her words rang true. “True enough, and certainly he is dirty..” the second thought was after thinking a moment's pause, Watu had not really been in the city long but this was certainly a dirty individual even by sunberth standards, physically and mentally, not one anyone should waste their time and effort on, as a whim he followed behind the woman as she began to move away after her suggestion. “It Iss very nice to meet someone who does not try to rob a stranger , and seeks to end the violence instead of making it longer.’ His manner of speech ringed of a foreigner to Sylira and oddly enough sounded as if he was speaking as someone that had not yet mastered the finer tone of speaking the common language “I Hope you are not too shaken Missss…” ? he proffered the question as if to ask her name, unsure of the customs behind asking a human her name, nor really gauging exactly what title he should use.

[Rissi]

Rissi was half aware of the man following her, a sensation she didn’t exactly feel comfortable with but a situation she had expected, after all she’d practically invited him to follow her. Frowning again she slowed down slightly, her fingers fiddling with the buttons on her shirt, until the man was at her side as opposed to behind her as she turned her head to make sure that the old man wasn’t following them, and luckily it appeared that although he had managed to pick himself up he had decided against following them.

“He’s decided to go elsewhere…” she mused out loud as she turned her attention back to the street in front of her, narrowly dodging a grumpy looking old lady walking down the middle of the street as though nobody else mattered. Regaining her composure, Rissi made sure to keep her eyes glancing around the streets, not lingering on anything for more than a handful of moments. “Keep your eyes about you…” she said to the taller man before nodding to herself.

The way the man spoke, now she could hear him speaking a longer phrase, caused her to bite the inside of her cheek, trying to work out if she’d heard someone speaking that way before but finding it to be completely unfamiliar to her and so she turned her head briefly towards him. “I don’t know where you’ve come from but you’re in Sunberth now. Everyone is out for themselves and no offence but you really stand out, you’re not gonna find much peace here. Besides, I might try to rob a stranger but you look a bit too tall to be someone I’d mess with.” Rissi’s face twisted into a slightly smirk as she spoke.

Hearing the man pausing his words, Rissi turned to look him up and down a few times, trying to decide if she should tell him her name or try to make one up. “Shaken? No. That was mild.” she stated shortly, a frown playing across her features for a few moments before she exhaled. She knew that she’d likely just forget any fake name she told her. “Rissi… just Rissi. And you? You owe me your name too.” her tone was somewhat harsh and short as she spoke, not that she really intended to sound that way. Her years in Sunberth had caused her to lack trust in people and so she tended to speak to everyone as though they had somehow insulted her.

“Anyway, what did you come here for today? Were you looking for anywhere or anyone? There’s not that many shops that do good stuff but the marketplace sometimes has stuff you might need.”
As much as Rissi wanted to keep everyone at arm's length, a part of her pitied the stranger and at least thought it best to point him in the right direction for whatever he was here for. It would also help to ease her worries if she knew he had a reason to be out and about in a city that seemed so new to him.