[Flashback]Watch your step (Eridanus)

[Nai'shee]

30th of Spring, 505AV Nai'shee walked peacefully trough docks. She wanted to meet crew of that new float that came in Zeltiva. There was three boats together, it was rare to see something like that, they were probably rich. She stood at the fair distance, waiting for them. Sound of waves and wind around her got her excited. She imagined how hard it would be on the sea now. Every sailor around this seas will probably have rough night, trying to surpass a storm. It wasn't actually a storm here, weather was beautiful and she enjoyed it, but this kind of cold wind in Spring implied that sea was dangerous. Few people came out of the boat, but not whole crew. She assumed those were the highest ranked above all, so they could enjoy while others did little dirty jobs before disembarking to a new land. There was a tall guy with a long, messy hair in red suit who seemed like a captain. But all five of them were very young. Captain must have had very rich family, probably noble, or they're pirates. There were no third way to get three boats and that much man at that age. She assumed captain is around twenty five and others were even younger. She decided to make her move while docks are still pretty clear. As she approached, they stopped talking and all five of them looked at her. "Hello there", she said with sarcastic smile. "Wha'cha doing, girl?", responded fat guy with a earring. She noticed their eyes were a bit reddened ant their faces looked flushed. The guy who spoke to her took deep, long breaths, and seemed really sleepy. "I'm just wandering around, meeting newbies in the city... Escaping the storm?", she asked, more to show her abilities, she wasn't really curious about their reasons here, which was unusual for her. "Storm?", asked tiny guy, just a bit taller then her. He was that loud that he scared her. "Oh, Storm. Ya, that is." Everybody laughed. Nai'shee just stood there totally confused. How can they even be a sailors? And yet, she couldn't. This guys just proved that anybody can do it, with money. That made her hate herself for being poor. "You really are helpless...", she whispered with anger. "You said something?", the guy she titled captain asked. "Doesn't matter anyways... So, why are you alone at the docks this late?" "I'm orphan...", she answered. "Oh, my, my, you don't say? So you don't have any family? You must feel lonely... very lonely...", he looked at his crew and they all laughed again, even nor some had really stupid faces, and seemed as laughing only because they were expected to. "Say it, how old are you, chick?" They slowly surrounded her while he was talking and they kept laughing. One of them fell right in front of her and seemed asleep. It was disgusting. She only wanted to kick him away, but she was afraid what others might do. She definitely won't join their crew, that is! "I'm nine", she replied stubbornly looking at his lost eyes. They laughed again. "What, in the world, is so funny?"

[Eridanus]

"A basic compass, please," Eridanus requested, and the vendor at the docks nearby rummaged through his wares for the product. The vantha wanted to test out the effects of magic on magnetic lines in an area after reading an article about how the polarity of an area might affect the magnitude of spells casted, and he preferred to have his own item to test rather than trying to sneak out the University-owned one from one of the labs like his dorm-mate suggested.

Paying the merchant and pocketing the compass, he decided to take the scenic route back to the University. It was a slightly detour, but that detour brought him along the docks where he could breathe fresh air and the cool, slightly salty wind from the sea.

His clothes hid his toned body shaped by a myriad of life-and-death combat situations, while his visage bore an unearthly seeming that terrified and attracted mortal races that signified his celestial heritage.

Ahead of him he could see people wandering about their own business, and a group of young men with an even younger girl whose back was facing him. He assumed that they were together, and he wondered just how young sailors were getting these days.

The ethaefal whistled to himself as he passed by.

[Nai'shee]

They kept laughing, ignoring her question, which really made her angry, so she faced the captain looking straight to his eyes and yelled her question in his face: "What are you laughing about?!" Her performance had no effect, except making captain laugh even louder, so he had to hold his subordinates shoulder to stay on his legs. All of them looked so pathetic. If she ever meets this group in the sea one day, she will definitely make sure to soak at least one of their ships. "That's it!", she shouted turning around to face the city. "You're just a bunch of losers! I'm off." She was yelling, but as she spoke her voice became quieter and more confident. She tried to walk between two mans, but they suddenly got serious. "Where do you think you're going? Isn't it rude to just leave us like that?", he said with voice of worried parent. She ignored him and kept walking, but next moment she felt she was punched in chest. Next she was aware was she - laying down on wooden dock, facing them, angrily showing her tooths, like an animal. She stood up, only to see them laughing even more. Even if there was a reason, she couldn't understand what on Mizahar could be that funny. Her anger boiled in her, making her heart beat faster. Her mind ignored every logic, and desperately wanted to beat those guys who made fun of her and punched her around like that. She haven't even noticed Ethaefal passing by behind them. Her wish to punch them surpassed her common sense, and she felt Djed slowly progressing to her right hand. Part of her knew it's dangerous to use that, but the dominant part didn't care, as long as that helps hurting any of those guys. She just wanted to hurt them badly, that was, they must be hurt. Her fist darted at the face of one of pirates. He clumsily defended by catching her little hand with his massive fingers, but energy Flux made her produce pushed his hand to his face, so he punched himself. Everybody started laughing again, but the one she attacked seemed angry. "That was really naughty, little girl. Should I punish you for being so naughty?", he asked. His eyes were as angry as her probably was a moment earlier, and her failure made her aware of situation she was in. Fear made her step back, only to be pushed forth, to where she was standing a moment ago.

[Eridanus]

oocI'll let you decide on how the sailors will react.

The girl's voice started to increase in frequency until it made it quite impossible for the ethaefal to ignore. Out of curiosity, he slowed down his pace but he kept an eye on the group of sailors in front of him. Perhaps the girl was throwing some kind of tantrum, and from the healthy looks of the sailors he could tell that they were people with money.

Suddenly, one of them landed a fist on the girl's stomach, flinging her to the side, and Eri widened his eyes in surprise. Now this was most definitely not a friendly shove. Or at least, it was not quite the right way to treat a child. As the adult men began to corner the child with leering eyes, Eri came to the realization that she was most definitely not part of their group. His observation of normal human relationships was the reference he used when reading their body language.

Out of anger the girl punched one of them, but like the rest of the sailors the ethaefal had not expected much of an outcome. That was, until her punch actually made contact and landed with an impact enough to overwhelm the guy's block and to strike his face. Those men did not like it very much, and as they approached the girl Eri called out to them.

"Hey, is there trouble?"

Of course, it might not go quite like what he meant, for in his divine seeming he seemed to unintentionally portray a detached and arrogant figure, from his posture to the bored, measured monotone of his voice. He did not have any weapons with him, for he was beginning to get used to the relative safety of Zeltiva and the University, and for all purposes looked like the average unarmed civilian. Except of course, for his exotic race and the assassin's dagger hidden in his robes.

[Nai'shee]

OOCIf you have idea don't hesitate control them.

She helplessly struggled falling again, when she heard similar voice. All sailors turned to see who it was, but Nai'shee was probably the only one who really knew. "Ethaefal!", she cried with relief. She realized it wasn't even a proper name, but his race was so rare, or at least not really noticeable, in Zeltiva it was like a name to her. It seemed he didn't recognized her from that distance, but for her it was easy to tell who he was, if you could say something for Ethaefals here, and probably anywhere is that they're recognizable. Her knees were shaking and she eventually knelt down, realizing how afraid she was. Her anger and stubbornness slowly disappeared to be replaced by fear. Drunk sailors turned for Ethaefal, and then she realized what was she doing. He can't fight them. There were too many of them. It is that they were drunk and probably unskilled, but it was still dangerous. And he couldn't just make enemies like that, they were obviously pretty rich. She wanted to tell him that, to scream, to make him run away, but she was just kneeing helplessly and looking at fight she made. She couldn't say anything, she couldn't tell him that she doesn't need help she needed. And even if she did, he didn't seem like listening to stupid little girls pretending to be calm. He was very smart and determined man, she could figure that much from their conversation back then. "Yo", one of the sailors responded, instead of real answer, "It's better for fragile shiny beings like yourself to watch their business, so they wouldn't get hurt". A bit of her anger that fallen in the name of fear woke in her again. She stood up, breathing hardly, facing backs of the crew. She didn't know what to do. Run away, hide, fight or try and make him go. She only knew she must do something.

[Eridanus]

The shrill cry caused Eridanus to turn his gaze sharply to focus on the girl, and recognition dawned upon him as he realized that this was the same child who sneaked into the University while he was training on his own. The sailors threw off a warning meant to intimidate, and the ethaefal took a second hard look at the men.

They looked pretty young, and their youth was even more an oddity due to the finery they were wearing which probably signified their elevated status in whatever ship they were on. He got the feeling they got to wherever they were from connections and blood-ties rather than from pure skill, though that was beside the point.

He did not quite like leaving a child to be cornered by a group of drunk adults with the intention to harm, and from his quick glance their hands were free, but they were all armed with various weapons hanging by their sashes.

One, two, three, four, five in total. One already sleeping by the girl's feet, one disoriented from her punch. That left three in ready condition, and the ethaefal's eyes darted quickly to take in the circumstance he was in. They were most certainly armed, though he was not sure if they meant to draw their weapons in the city, though it was nightfall.

"Now now, it looks bad if word got around that the group of you fine young men were picking on a little girl would it?" Eridanus offered infuriatingly, inconspicuously positioning himself closest to what seemed like the most drunk man.

His provocation worked, though it worked more than he intended it to, and that man grunted something about 'picking on the right target, then' before lumbering towards him with a right hook.

Eridanus snapped into an eased posture, his left hand raising up in response to intercept the right hook, but instead of blocking it he shifted his body to the right and guided the man's hook safely away from his head, effectively redirecting that blow. At the same time, he took a decisive right step forward, and used the momentum of his step forward combined with the twist of his torso to deliver a lightning-fast palm strike at the man's chin, snapping his head upwards, and stumbling him several paces backwards.

At that exact moment, he heard the unmistakable swish of metal and instantly alarm bells began to ring.

The ethaefal quickly leaped forward, using the jump to power his elbow strike that smashed into the stumbling man's face followed by a knee strike that completely toppled the man over. As both of them fell, he used the man's body as a cushion for landing his knee on, and his hands grasped around the man's sash to find the scabbard strung to it.

Feeling a familiar wood-and-leather grip, he pulled the sailor's weapon out and quickly tumbled away from where he believed the other sailors were originally at to give himself more space. Spinning around in mid-tumble, he placed his left hand on the ground and outstretched his legs to halt his movement, his right hand gripping the blade away from his body in a spider-like crouching stance.

Standing up cautiously, he found himself safely away from the sailors who had positively furious expressions on their faces and the weapons they now had gripped in their hands were shaking with rage. He did not look for the girl for he had to pay attention to this new threat, but he hoped she had the sense to create a large distance between them and her in the confusion he caused. Eridanus did not quite like to be involved in a troublesome hostage situation.

He weighted the blade carefully, and he appreciated how fine craftsmanship had went into the forging of the long sword. Rich men indeed. The other sailors were holding a variety of weapons ranging from a cutlass to a scimitar, and it was fortunate that he had the idea of positioning himself closest to the one who had a weapon familiar to him - the long sword.

The ethaefal settled into the neutral stance of the Suvan-Denvali Swordsmanship style, holding his blade loosely forward seemingly non-threateningly.

"I don't suppose I can persuade you fellas to resolve this without bloodshed?"

[Nai'shee]

After fight begun she didn't need to be told to get away. All of sailors were armed more then they could stand and Etaefal had dagger, while she was empty handed and without any combat experience. However, she couldn't surpass the wish to watch beautiful sword dance she was dying to learn. Ethaefal's moves were perfectly answering their attacks and he dodged every of them. He didn't seem like he is too much into attacking. However, after few seconds she realized she was just standing there watching their swordplay which began for her sake. As well, alarm activated which meant she made huge trouble for the man who fought for her. She quickly took of her shoes and jumped into water. She knew it wasn't really the best decision and that she predicted a storm herself, but she should be fine swimming just to reach the other side of docks. However, wind was against her, so waves rushed against her face telling her to turn around. She dived carefully looking for fishing nets and remembering their locations so she could try to avoid them. She knew there wasn't much use in this, because waves will turn her direction, but she could try. When she started swimming she realized she'll have to use Flux to get away safely. Why does this happen every time? She hated the pain it caused. However, it was almost impossible to use it in water, all of that force going against her made it harder to concentrate. If she used Flux at all it was some weird unstable version, not allowing her to cork on water. Eventually, she reached the coast, happy for being able to avoid all the nets and stuff. Some time past until she was able to get here and she wondered what happened to Ethaefal and others. She hoped guardians haven't made it yet, because if they arrested them without her to tell the story it won't be good for Ethaefal.

[Eridanus]

"You are going to pay, creature. You have no idea who you're messing with," one of the more confident-looking sailors announced threateningly.

"I really don't, good sir. So why don't let's all just stop this nonsense and go have a drink or something?" Eridanus asked conversationally, though not allowing his body to relax the stance that would snap up in the event of a sudden attack.

"Get him, boys. Make him squeal," that man declared, effectively ending negotiations.

The ethaefal sighed, and he strafed the group carefully, positioning himself closing to the one wielding the cutlass. The cutlass might be slightly more effective in cuts at close range, but the long sword maintained its superior reach. It was one advantage that he would ruthlessly exploit.

It would be tempting to just cut them all down, but he knew that the law in Zeltiva would frown upon him doing that, and Wysar would not be too pleased with him. It was the tougher path to take, for he knew that these hot-headed youngsters would not be hesitant to decapitate him, and so he had to fight them in a highly controlled and disciplined manner. Enough to defeat them, and sufficient to protect himself, but just enough to prevent killing them.

They deserved that much, after all. They were not blood-thirsty murderers, merely misinformed youngsters, they had the chance to be rehabilitated into useful members of society. And the ethaefal saw it as his job to help them get on the right path like Yahal would. Unfortunately for them, he also had Myri's perspective of the ends justifying the means, and so he would help them on that path with quite a good bruising.

The one with the cutlass rushed at him swinging his weapon in a haphazard manner. The trained swordsman dealt with that crude attack easily, intercepting the path of the cutlass with the point of his sword. Metal screeched against metal as the cutlass ran its length along the long sword, and Eridanus subtly jerked his wrist outwards to guide the cutlass safely away from his body, yet still allowing the man's momentum from that rush to bring him closer.

As the sailor stumbled near him, the ethaefal lashed forward with a palm strike, stepping forward with his left foot as he did so. The force from his own strike combined with the man's momentum gave the sailor a bloody nose, and before he could react Eridanus angled himself more to the right of the man bringing the hilt of his sword up front to jab into the man's collarbone. The ethaefal quickly finished off with a snap kick that pushed him further away from the man, collapsing the sailor on the floor, writhing and moaning incomprehensibly.

All these happened in the span of a few mere seconds, and the other sailors were looking at him with a shocked glance. He had already downed two of their group, doing so with a masterful grace. It seemed easy to an onlooker, but they had no idea the amount of control and skill required of Eridanus to do what he did. He was saving their lives, taking the onus of the extra focus and dexterity to avoid simply decapitating them or rendering their bodies into ribbons.

"Truce?" The ethaefal suggested amiably to the confident-looking one of the group.

Nai'SheeCould you RP the leader's reaction, or any other environmental incidents like the guards coming to see what's happening, etc.

[Nai'shee]

She missed the most of the fight, but she was there to see Ethaefal offering truce. It was indeed fair offer, because he already downed two mans of their group, one was asleep and two were left, captain-looking one was one of them. She saw his body shaking, in some mix of fear and anger, helplessness she felt few minutes ago. She smiled. It was obvious captain didn't want to settle things like this, but he haven't had much choice. He probably had more mans on the ship, but those were obviously the best fighters, or else he would bring somebody stronger with him. He spitted at ground, and looked at the Ethaefal. It was sight of an animal, a pet which was grounded for the first time, crazy, as he didn't want to accept defeat. "Truce", he said, pointing out every syllable. "This is not over", he explained. His last words remained quieter with loud guardians' footsteps approaching. He smiled at Ethaefal, pulling out a little bag, obviously full of coins, probably golden Mizas. "I didn't think it will come this soon", he said with enjoyment, "my chance, that is." It was obvious he wanted to bribe the guards. Nai'shee knew they probably won't accept it, but this guy was full of money, he could offer crazy amount, and there were no evidences for what really happened. He slowly put his money back to his pocket and than she realized it. It wasn't for bribe, it was perfect excuse to blame Ethaefal for the fight. Why would young, rich sailor fight somebody like that? And isn't all the money he had perfect motive for Ethaefal to attack? And how is he going to explain he was protecting her if she was here now? She shouldn't have swam away. She started running in their direction, desperately. If they judge him for this, she will never forgive herself. She couldn't be sure, but he didn't seem like person who would allow her to try and rescue him from jail, as well. She wanted to tell him the guards are coming, but such a warning would be even more suspicious. Her brain worked out for a plan she might use to save the situation, but she came up with nothing, at least for now.

[Eridanus]

It was evident that the young captain did not quite foresee such an ending. He was young, ambitious anc confident, and what his skill in intimidation and fighting could not reach the vast amount of gold he had did the rest for him. He did not quite foresee a lone ethaefal taking down two of his men rather easily, and he was too immature to realize that the ethaefal had expended quite a bit of energy in taking them out harmlessly rather than fatally.

The sounds of the guards' footsteps came, and the man showed his trump card with a malicious, devious grin. It took Eridanus a moment to process all of it and he realized what was at stake. The youngster could probably bribe the guards, and failing which blame it on a robbery the ethaefal was trying to pull off on a young rich sailor. The man had several of his own men as witness, and the person Eridanus was trying to save in the first place was nowhere in sight.

As the guards came closer, the ethaefal's mind raced quickly to come up with a plan. He could run away, but it would not be good for his reputation, furthermore he would be easily identified due to the rarity of his race. Perhaps he could use his celestial glamor to persuade the guards to think otherwise?

Time was running out, and if the girl did not appear by then things might get serious.