Natural Selection

[Jasmina Apsara]

Jasmina did allow Guido to look at her wound. It was still bleeding, but not as freely as it had before. Keeping pressure on it for a few moments seemed to have helped. There probably would be a scar, but a small enough one that it wouldn't show unless someone was close to her... meaning it shouldn't matter for the sake of a performance, as the audience had to be at least sufficiently far away that she wouldn't kick them or bump them with her arms when she moved, no matter how small the space she danced in.

"Thank you, Mister Guido. If I need anything, I shall come and find you... but I think this will not happen. I am most eager just to sleep. I hope your night will be pleasant, and more peaceful than it has thus far."

With a hole in the window glass and the door having just been battered down, Jasmina obviously needed a new place to sleep, and apparently having been so ordered, the lisping man began picking up her things for her. He seemed surprised at how few possessions she had, but he made no comment about it, and neither did she.

"Thith way, Mith," he instructed, and moved her to a free room just next door to the one she'd vacated.

She thanked him, did a check of the windows and doors in this room too, pulled the curtains shut and... forcing herself to give up nonsense-fears of another attack... crawled into bed. Jasmina had thought it would take her awhile to fall asleep, but it didn't. Though nightmares would punctuate her slumber throughout the night, she was asleep as soon as she had the covers tucked around her.

[Direidi]

Direidi stood on the edge of a new world.

Her tail wrapped itself around her ankle nervously, but her mind was filled with excitement and curiosity. There were Outsiders everywhere, leaving the city, going into the city, and even just standing at the entrance looking intimidating. None of them had spotted her yet, she could tell. There had been a much smaller Outsider village she had skirted around on her way here, and the few who had seen her had stared. Apparently no Outsiders had long, pointed ears, slitted pupils, or a tail. It had only been worse when she smiled at them, as her sharp teeth seemed to scare them. But everything would be different, this time, she was sure. After all, the man who smelled like a fox had come here, so perhaps in such a large city, her oddities would go unnoticed, or at least unfeared.

The city glittered in the sunlight, like a silver-veined quartz she had drawn from the Mountain's depths. She hesitated one last moment, then unwound her tail and strode towards the entrance, her black-silver hair rippling as she walked and her knee-high leather boots gliding smoothly and silently over the ground. She would find the fox-man again. Then maybe she would explore the rest of this crystal-like city.

After several days and nights of following the man across the Mountain's pass, Diri had had to resort to a very nasty trick. It had upset her to drain the horse of so much energy, to leave it nearly dead, but the Mountain wanted the man gone. Though there had been a tiny flicker of light in him, he had murder on his mind, and neither hobs nor their Mountain wanted a murderer around. After his horse had died shortly after her tampering, he had fled the Mountain quickly, and she had finally been able to return to the Caregan. Though the tribe had celebrated a flawless cais, Direidi had missed seeing an Outsider, and part of her had felt she deserved the pain when the tattoo artisan poured the molten platinum onto her arm as he spell-crafted it. After all, it had been her fault an innocent animal had died. And for what? So she could join the ranks of hobs old enough for courtship?

She had taken a look around at the young men and women dancing at her cais-ceremony. Not one of the males caught her interest. They didn't even pique her curiosity like an Outsider. So the next morning, she had set out to follow the one she had chased away. Not to compensate him for what she had done, but maybe to sway him from his negative path. And if she failed, she would still have other Outsiders to meet and a new world to explore...

[Cervantes]

Cervantes' mind was spinning. He was not completely unconscious for very long. The blows to his head had sent him to a dark place full of blue and purple stars. It was a comfortable place where he didn't remember who he was or how he got there, but by the time the bodyguard had pulled him out of the room he was starting to remember.

He could see the carpeted floor of the hallway sliding along underneath him while a set of large hands held him above it. His feet were dragging, and a stream of red colour was dripping from his mouth and leaving a line along the carpet. It smelled nice in the hallway, and it was quiet and warm, but a circle of something warm was gradually spreading across the side of his face, like he was being pressed up against a hot plate. Someone had hit him really hard, and the bruise was swelling up, but for some reason it didn't hurt. Not yet.

A childishly stupid voice with a lisp said a few things he didn't catch, among them the word 'Tarsis' and 'downstairs'. Cervantes then felt himself being passed along to another set of hands. These ones were not quite as big, and they had to hook under his armpits with their elbows to hold him up.

Pulling his head up, he saw the double doors that led to the tavern opening up. A rush of cool air hit him, along with the sound of people enjoying themselves drinking, talking and watching some woman on a stage dancing. The floor dragging under his feet turned from carpet to hardwood.

The woman dancing up on the stage and a few of the other people around looked at him with a mixture of pity and morbid interest, but he couldn't hold his head up long enough to see more. He knew where he was going, and preferred to go back to the black, starry place than confront it.

Waking up again for only a few minutes, he knew none of it was a bad dream. It was cold and damp and he was laying on a stone floor. There was no light and no sound of people.

It figures it would end this way.

* * *

The following day, Guido was up early to sort out the details of the cleanup from the previous night. Jasmina's door needed to be fixed, the carpet needed to be cleaned, and the idiot goon with the lisp needed to be reprimanded for not being more careful about the blood.

All of this was done quickly and quietly before Jasmina could wake up and start asking more questions about what was going on. Guido hoped to smooth things over and brush the incident under the rug. Salliniari was going to be mad, but that anger would be vented on the street urchin who was safely locked up in the basement. If Jasmina could be treated with enough care, nothing more would come of things here. The Tarsis would have their punishment in due time.

Guido stood in the hallway watching as a maid scrubbed away at the floor with a brush and bucket of water. He didn't bother to turn around when the bodyguard approached him from behind, coming in from the tavern.

"Mithter Thalliniari thayth he'll be here in a half hour. He thayth he thinkth he knowth how come they thent the kid..."

The man stopped speaking abruptly when Guido raised his hand to silence him. Jasmina was awake, and he knew it. Turning to look over at closed door for a second, he then started shooing the goon away with an exasperated expression.

[Jasmina Apsara]

Jasmina woke up feeling like absolute hell, and went downhill from there. She was exhausted from her interrupted night and then inability to sleep well afterward, and her muscles ached from overuse without proper rest the day before, as well as some lingering soreness as an after-effect of being handled roughly by the man who had wanted to kill her.

There was the morning sickness, too. At three months along, she'd thought she was nearly finished with that part of her pregnancy, but this particular day it seemed to have returned with a vengeance. She spent as much time dry-heaving as dressing, and found herself wondering how she was going to make it through the next six months. Couldn't the child just be here already, without all this preamble?

Jasmina's cut was also still bleeding-- not rivers of blood by any means, but still a steady trickle-- and the skin around it looked a little red. She hoped it wasn't getting infected, and winced as she applied pressure to it to try to stop the flow.

Then there was the problem of the sheets. Jasmina's makeshift bandage had worked free during the night amongst her tossing and turning, and her pillowcase and the surrounding area of her sheets had red stains when she awoke. That seemed like a big problem... the sheets looked expensive, and she was afraid they'd be stained. Her attempts to clean up the damage at her washbasin had been only minimally effective, and she feared the sheet was ruined. She wondered how much of her pay replacing it would consume.

By the time she left her room, Jasmina was feeling pretty wretched all around, and she was pale and visibly nauseated. Still, she couldn't hide all day. She emerged, and though she hadn't caught any of the conversation between them, she gave Guido and the lisping man a friendly nod. As cheerfully as possible, she said with a slightly forced smile, "Good morning."

[Direidi]

At the last minute, Direidi realized that perhaps striding boldly past the intimidating men at the city entrance was not such a great idea. The fox-man's trail was already weak. If she was stopped for long or forced to take another path, there was a good chance she would lose the scent entirely. For the first time since leaving her Mountain, she mourned the loss of some of her magics. What she wouldn't give to be able to camouflage right now.

After some pondering, some thinking, and a good deal of staring at Outsiders, Diri figured that the most distinguishing features about her were her ears and the tail, which made them the only things she really had to conceal. Lacking a scarf, as the material was something her people could not create, she flattened her ears and pulled her hair over them, winding her tail up her back so that it, too, was concealed by the hair that fell past her hips. It was not, in her mind, her best look, but her vanity would survive the time it would take her to get past the men. Barely.

She squared her shoulders, checked her hair, and tried to look casual as she slipped into the crowd. Closer... Closer... At the last moment, Direidi panicked. She looked at the person nearest the entrance and reached inside for her tie to the Mountain. A small stone emerged from the ground and sent the poor man sprawling into one of the watchful males at the gate. A flurry of activity erupted, and Direidi skirted around the commotion and into the city. She wrinkled her nose. The very smelly city. All traces of nature's fresh air were gone. It stunk of unwashed bodies and too many people. The fox-man's scent was undetectable in this rush of odors. For lack of a better plan, she dropped one of her raw chunks of amythest on the ground. As she bent down to pick it up, she paused to sniff at the street, turning this way and that until she found his trail again. Got you! she thought cheerfully, and adjusted her path accordingly.

The city was both disappointing and stunning up close when compared to the view from outside. It was disappointing to find flaws such as the contamination of the air, and the dirt that was visible on her crystaline city upclose, but at the same time, she was able to see in detail all the delicate gilding on the rooftops, the craftsmanship in the statuary, and a thousand other details she would never have seen had she not come closer. She smiled and purred quietly to herself. Once she was well away from the gates, she even curled her tail about her waist like a strange belt and perked her ears back up. This necessitated a pause so she could braid her hair, which in turn forced her to detangle it first, and the one-minute pause ended up costing her twenty instead, but the feminine side of her insisted it was vital. Another stealthy sniff at the ground, and she was back on the Outsider's tail.

After a while, she started moving more hesitantly. The streets were becoming less attractive, and an overall negative feeling hung in the air that Direidi could sense even without the magic she lost when leaving the Mountain. Despite being used to all kinds of cold, her sooty grey limbs shivered, and her steps began to drag with reluctance. Why did he come here? Who would come here?

[Cervantes]

Jasmina didn't look good, but it didn't take outward physical appearances to tip Guido off. He withdrew his notepad and begin to scratch something down onto it with his pen, while the goon dawdled where he was. He oscillated between following Guido's orders, and greeting Jasmina, as though he didn't know which one was more appropriate.

Settling for the latter, he nodded to her and said "good morning mith Jathmina" before hesitantly trying to see what Guido was writing, and then turning to get out of the hallway before he could get scolded again. It wasn't as though he could read what was being written anyway.

Guido showed her the notepad. It read: Don't worry about the bed sheets. You should see our healer, he can treat your neck. I sent for him this morning. He'll be waiting for us. Are you hungry?

After waiting for her response, either way, Guido began to usher her down the hallway. Despite her late wake-up, she could hear that the place was still very quiet in comparison to how it was in the evening. There were few people in the tavern, and the ones who were there weren't yet drunk or rowdy. Most were enjoying a quiet meal and conversation at their tables. Mister Salliniari was still away.

[Jasmina Apsara]

Jasmina was startled, wondering how he knew about the sheets. Either he had been spying on her, which seemed unlikely-- surely a man in his position had better things to do than watch a dancer go about her mundane life-- or maybe he was a Sensitive.

Her mother had told her there were people like that. People who knew things, when they shouldn't have any way to know. They got feelings, saw visions, heard voices, or had dreams. Some even seemed to read minds. Guido hadn't struck her as the type, but since she had never met such a person, Jasmina had to admit to herself that she really didn't know what the type was.

And it made sense, really. In several instances, he'd seemed ready to begin his response to her before she'd even finished speaking. At the time she'd thought little of it, assuming he was just more intelligent than she was, and so was impatient with how long it took the ignorant dancer to catch up to his thought process, or was frustrated with her slightly slower speech when she used this language that was not her native tongue. Either way, it hadn't bothered her.

But it seemed she'd interpreted him wrongly. Maybe he was one of the Sensitives her mother had told her about. That thought was a source of curiosity and interest, but not particular concern. Jasmina didn't think there was anything about her life worth hiding; she had no secrets.

"I thank you, sir. The healer's help will be most appreciated. The cut is not bad, but the bleeding is stubborn." Jasmina pondered whether it would be horribly impolite to refuse breakfast, and her stomach gave a little internal heave at the mere thought of food. "I cannot eat this morning, I think. The baby is making me feel ill. Something to drink would be most pleasant, though. A cup of tea, perhaps?"

[Direidi]

Direidi was starting to seriously question why she'd ever left the Mountain. This place was depressing, and the playful attitude inherent in a hob was beginning to wilt in her. Her tail hadn't released its almost-painful grip on her ankle in over an hour. At one point she'd found a building where the fox-man's scent was strong, but further digging had shown her he was not there anymore. She half-heartedly sniffed at the trail and shock lit up her face as she realized that not only was he close now, but she could smell the strong stink of his spilled blood in the air drifting from the building she'd been approaching. Blood? Given the murderous intentions he'd had when on the Mountain, Diri wouldn't have been surprised to smell someone else's blood, and indeed there was a faint trace of unfamiliar blood mixed in the scent, but his blood? Part of her wondered if whatever had happened to him had been possible because of her tormenting him.

The hob bounded gracefully up the short steps to the front door, or what she assumed was the front, and pulled up short at the quiet strains of music drifting through the room as she opened the door. It called to her, lulling her and trying to lure her into dancing to this beautiful, foreign sound. The music rippled along the sensitive little hairs in her ears, and her body itched to sway with the beat. Her eyelids drifted down, and she stepped further into the room, when the stink of fox-man's blood punched her in the nose again. She stood just inside the entrance of this strange place and felt herself torn between finding the bleeding man and giving in to the compelling tug of the music, knowing which one was right, but not quite able to relinquish the seductive strains.

[Cervantes]

The cold stone felt good against his bruises. In order to keep it pressed against the swollen half of his face, Cervantes remained laying down on the floor. It wasn't clean by any stretch of the imagination. Covered in a thin layer of soggy, gritty dirt, it smelled like urine and old shit, but that didn't matter to him. He was going to die anyway. The temporary relief of the cold against his burning bruises was worth more than being sanitary.

* * *

Of course Guido was more than happy to comply with any of Jasmina's wishes. If she wanted tea, tea she would get. With all of the other helping staff careful to make themselves scarce and keep out of the way, it was only the two of them in the hall. He led her out into the tavern area, which was big enough to provide a modicum of privacy for her. Neither of the two bouncers standing around the doorway looked at her or Guido.

They traversed a path along the side of the tavern to a raised level which housed some private tables. There was a man waiting there, wearing thick silver and red robes which clearly marked him as some kind of wizard or priest. He had dark hair, and his skin was a grayish colour which did not look quite human. His eyes, too, gave him away as something else. They glowed with a yellowish tinge that was far away from gold, which would have looked far more flattering.

Guido encouraged her to have a seat at the man's table, while the man stood up to greet them both. He seemed empathetic enough as he spoke, and his eyes went directly to the cut on Jasmina's neck. "Good morning, Mister Guido, madam. Oh, I see the problem. It's only a scratch, won't take more than a minute to patch that up."

He turned and started rifling through a bag that had been sitting beside his chair, and continued talking. "I hope you don't have any allergies or magical aversions. It goes so much easier when they let me use magic. You don't strike me as one of those oddball Theodynes, though."

In the meantime Guido sent for a cup of tea by mouthing the words and making some hand gestures to the waitress.

From their vantage point, they could see across the tavern to the strange woman standing at the doorway, although neither Guido nor the healer took any notice of her. The place only had a half dozen patrons, each sitting at tables and listening to some soft music being played by a young girl at the front. Waitresses left her alone to find a place if she pleased.

[Jasmina Apsara]

Jasmina smiled at the healer, unable to disguise her frank curiosity about him. She'd seen such people before, but usually from a distance, and their "magical" gifts often turned out to be feigned. Claiming to be supernatural was an easy way to earn a bit of coin from the peasantry. Since this man was apparently guaranteed to be the real thing, Jasmina regarded him with no small amount of interest.

"I am allergic to nothing, as far as I know. I have never been healed by magic, but I have no reason to think it will go amiss. However, you should know that I am with child, in case that will change your procedure. My pregnancy is progressed three months. I am comfortable with the use of magic, as long as it will not harm my baby."

In truth, Jasmina hoped he would be able to use the magic... not because of the injury itself, which was minor, but because a display of real magical talent would be fascinating. Still, it wasn't worth any potential risk to her child.

Jasmina briefly noticed the unknown woman in the doorway, but the presence did not surprise her or hold her attention for long. Her eyes automatically scanned the area, but in a public space, a new person didn't strike her as noteworthy. Quickly, her mental focus returned to the healer.

[Direidi]

It took some doing, but Diri ripped her attention away from the music. A man and a pregnant woman had entered the room, both smelling of the fox-man, the woman more so. She meandered closer to them, not quite certain what to do next. What would Outsiders do? She bounced lightly on her heels, wanting to just ask them where the man was, but given his murderous nature, it might not be good to be asking about him. What if he'd killed the person already?

As she got slowly closer, her tail slid loose and started twitching back and forth nervously. Another step forward and an Outsider woman smoothly approached her, a purposeful, cheery smile lighting her face. "Welcome. Did you need help finding a seat? Or if you'd rather sit at the bar, I could just serve you there."

Indecision would be the death of her one of these days, Direidi mused as she passively allowed herself to be steered to a table and seated. "Do you have fruit juice? Any kind of juice?" She would figure out how to approach that pair, even if she had to trip the man with what tricky magic she had left. The woman departed with the same gliding grace she had approached with, vanishing in some back room and leaving the hob to her own, confused thoughts and formless plans.

[Cervantes]

"I can feel the child. Mhmm... It is quite helathy. Good, good..." muttered the healer to Jasmina. From his bag he withdrew a small bushel of leafy green twigs wrapped together by a piece of string. Daintily tugging one of them free, he held it up between to fingers in offering to her. "Chew on this and keep it in your mouth please."

The herbs had a typically bitter flavor to them and were not, in any overt sense, magical. Once they were taken, he returned the rest and took out a small golden chain from which dangled a wooden ball no bigger than the end of Jasmina's thumb. This he waved around her head like a priest with a ball of incense. The air glittered and took on the smell of something strangely natural, like a mixture of cut grass and fresh mud. It made the cut on her neck itch and though she couldn't see it, it caused her skin to heal rapidly.

With a smile and a twinkle in his yellow eyes, he said "Wiruunae shines on you, Jasmina." He had not been told her name. Before he could elaborate, he turned to look at the front entrance.

Salliniari's arrival in the tavern was punctuated by the simultaneous drawing of attention of nearly all the occupants. For the regular patrons, their gazes were nothing but brief, casual acknowledgments, but for the staff, all of whom knew what was going on, things were more serious. They scurried about, making sure little details were in order and doing whatever it took to look busy so as to avoid his attention. None of them wanted to deal with him directly on days like this.

The waitress serving Direidi was in the middle of listing off their offerings of apple and berry juices when she stuttered, only to continue taking the order with more impetus after she, too glanced at Sallinari, and then pretended not to be distracted.

Only Guido was not afraid to meet his eyes.

Salliniari had an entourage of bodyguards with him whom he left at the door while he proceeded into the center of the dining area. His expression was grim. The news of what happened the previous night offended the man the way any professional mishap should offend the figurehead of a noteworthy establishment. Problems had to be rectified, and he had come to do so himself while abandoning more enjoyable pursuits of his successful business life. The perfume of more than one woman still lingered on him.

Guido hurried his paunch frame over to intercept Salliniari.

"Where is he? The basement?" He demanded to know, and Guido nodded in affirmation. He did not have to ask Guido to do anything or tell Guido what he was thinking. Guido already knew.

Immediately Sallinari's expression turned to a smile and he strode over to Jasmina, doing his best to hide from her what everyone else in the room saw in him. The healer, too, shied away and started rummaging through his sack once more.

"Jasmina! I heard what happened and came straight over. Are you alright? Did that little urchin hurt you?"

[Jasmina Apsara]

Jasmina smiled to hear that her child was healthy. She'd thought so-- at least she'd had no reason to believe otherwise-- but it was good to have that confirmed by someone who actually knew what he was talking about when it came to medical matters. The healing process fascinated her, and she watched like an enthralled child as the man performed his little ceremony. The ritual itself was as interesting as any magic. When he was finished, her cut was not only healed, but her nausea also seemed to have vanished.

"I thank you, good sir. Your goddess is very powerful."

But she wasn't sure if he'd heard, since his attention had been drawn away even as she spoke. She didn't get the feeling he'd been listening. Jasmina looked where he looked... and saw Mister Salliniari approaching. Everyone seemed to be acting frightened and busy in his presence, but Jasmina wasn't sure why, because he was smiling and appeared quite calm.

"Good morning, sir. I am quite alright. I sustained a small cut, but this kind healer used his magic to fix me. I am otherwise unharmed. I hope I did not cause you too much worry...?"

She couldn't imagine she had. Obviously her death or serious injury would displease him, but he barely knew her. Surely he didn't hold her too close to his heart.

"Everyone has been most kind to me. I feel much better now."

[Direidi]

The small buzz of magic hummed in the back of Diri's throat. It tasted of nature and warmth, and she couldn't help squirming slightly at the tickling feeling. The lady from before strolled back over and started listing off juices to choose from, but the hob's interest had been caught by the little wooden ball emitting the warm magic. "Sparkly..." she murmured to herself. The waitress scribbled something down and then started rambling again as the ball stopped glowing happily. Diridei glanced at the lady again, tuning in in time to hear a few fruits she'd never heard of, as well as some favorites. Suddenly she stutterered, and - interest perked - Diri turned to see what she was looking at. A man seemed to grab everyone else's attention, including that of the people who smelled of the fox man. She cut off the woman with a random, "That one," not sure what she'd ordered.

Her ears perked up slightly, and she listened to the new man talking to the round man who had been with the pregnant woman.

"Where is he? The basement?"

Diri was sure this must be about the fox-man. Who else but a murderer would garner such urgent attention? Maybe she was too late to stop him from his plans, but she had hope. She waited till her waitress walked away, then stood slowly and walked towards the little group. This new man - he had a commanding presence - maybe he would be willing to come to an agreement. Maybe even a Bargain...

She had to start off on the right foot. Start as you mean to go on, she chanted mentally. She extended a hand in the way of Outsiders, keeping her tail wrapped loosely around her ankle and to herself. "I am looking for someone. I believe you might know him. He was here..." She paused to remember the phrasing. "A few hors ago? Maybe oers? Recently, though." Brilliant. Start off by losing your command of the language. That's almost the same as starting off with self-confidence and assurance. "I have business with him." The one thing she knew how to do was to avoid the words need and want if there was a possible need for negotiations. Never imply urgency or desperation.

[Cervantes]

"Everyone has been most kind to me. I feel much better now." Jasmina said.

Salliniari's smile turned into the sort of disapproving frown that was appropriate to reflect his concern and the gravity of the situation after she reassured him she was ok and he was on to the grim task of dispensing punishment. He was loaded with dissatisfaction and a hint of concern of the fatherly type.

"I hope so, but they can't change what's been done to you already, ah? I suppose somebody's already told you some story about why he came for you by now. Thugs like him are the reason..."

The man's attention was drawn away from Jasmina when a newcomer arrived. It was a gray-skinned woman who didn't look quite human, but closer to the sort of creature that the doctor was. The directness with which she approached him, which nobody else who knew him was willing to do, made her stand out as a curiosity more than the color of her skin did.

Sallinari wasn't upset by it. While everyone acted like they were walking on broken glass around him, so afraid to offend him by saying the wrong thing at a bad time, a stranger with something honest to say was a curiosity. She must have something important to say. He wanted to hear it.

While Guido looked on, scrutinizing her with suspicious eyes, it was the doctor who suddenly became the most interested of all. He fumbled with his satchel and leaped to her side to cover up the hand which she had proffered to Sallinari, emitting a nervous laugh in the process.

"Mister Sallinari's a busy man, surely he can't help you. One of the waitresses must know who you're looking for..." The doctor spoke while pushing her hand down and resting one of his hands on her shoulder.

His desperate attempts to cover up the mess Direidi had walked into garnered a confused look from Sallinari, who didn't know what to make of the two oddities standing before him. He liked the doctor, who had never before rushed to someone's defense like this. It was extremely suspicious and the doctor was putting a lot on the line if the woman was guilty of something.

Sallinari looked to Guido for guidance. All Guido did was shrug, which didn't tell him anything useful, so Sallinari continued, "Well I hope your friend isn't the urchin who broke into my inn last night, because his business days just ended."