Returning home from watch

[Aeryn Cooper]

Aeryn Cooper made her way through the residential district, returning home after her watch. The sun was setting behind the rows of houses, throwing long shadows that plunged the street into strips of twilight. The coming darkness didn’t seem to worry her, as she walked with the same purposeful, confidant air that she always moved with; the stride that stated clearly that she was a guard and expected others to move out of her way. Her sword swung at her hip, thumping against her thigh in rhythm with her steps. She wasn’t wearing her armor, but it was obvious she had only recently removed it, as her shirt and pants were stained with sweat and grease from the leather bits.

Normally, the guardswoman would have been home before sunset, but after she had been relieved she had stopped at an inn to eat; a decision she regretted. She always ate more when she didn’t have to prepare the food herself, and the warm, heavy feeling of a full stomach was making her drowsy. She wanted nothing more than to return home to her warm bed and go to sleep.

Catching herself yawning, Aeryn mentally shook herself and banished all thoughts of blankets and dreams. A dozy guard could find herself in all sorts of trouble if she were out after dark. The friends and families of illegal mages would never publicly announce any anger at their loved ones’ arrests, but if they spotted a lone guard looking half-asleep after sunset, they could decide to try their hands at revenge.

Quickening her pace, the guardswoman berated herself, keeping a closer eye on her surroundings. Then, as she neared the entrance to a narrow alley, she heard something odd. Resting one hand on her sword hilt, she turned the corner to see what it was.

[Asiona & Lateus]

Asiona went over to a friend's house after school and stayed far later than her parents had told her to. She didn't care; it wasn't even dark out, and it couldn't be that dangerous. Especially since her friend's house wasn't that far away from her own as long as she went through a shortcut. Now she was walking along, deep in thought about a problem she had encountered with a spell, when a group of young men stepped out from the shadows. They quickly surrounded her and she knew she was in trouble; in a hurry she tried to think of a spell that could be used to get away but fear clouded her mind. Anyway, if she was caught using magic, she didn't even want to think about the consequences!

With dread dropping like a rock in her stomach she saw that they had knives and were wielding them threateningly. She could only stand frozen, unsure about what to do or what they would do. The tallest of the group said, authoritatively, "Hand over the goods, girl."

She opened her mouth to rebuke him but only stuttered out, "Wh-wh-wh..."

"Got any money? Jewelry? How 'bout that necklace you've got on, girlie?" said another boy, a smirk on his face as he jabbed his knife under her chin. Automatically Asiona reached up and found herself removing her necklace and holding it out, all the while watching the knife-wielder with wide eyes. "I have nothing else," Asiona said, her voice wavering.

"This thing is cheap!" said the boy who took the necklace. With that he tossed it over his shoulder.

"Geez, let's fuck this bitch up for wasting our time!" said the leader. The others laughed derisively and the knife was removed from her throat. Suddenly someone pushed her from behind and someone else pushed her to the side. Soon she found herself being thrown around, dizzy, unable to get her bearings. She screamed as hard as she could and tried kicking out but without success. One of the boys hit her in the face, another in the stomach. Her scream was cut short. She couldn't get a breath.

In the back of her mind she thought she felt something she never had before, like a surge of energy. Some words flitted through her mind, I'm coming, but it felt like her own thought. She couldn't concentrate.

[Aeryn Cooper]

Aeryn quickly assessed the situation, her guard training taking hold without conscious thought. There were several assailants, all male, and they were armed, although only with knives, as far as she could see. She knew better than to assume they had no hidden weapons, but seriously doubted any had broadswords or firearms hidden in their clothing.

For a brief moment, the guard seriously considered turning and walking away. She was off duty, and any young woman foolish enough to be out when it was getting dark was probably not worth the trouble. Besides, she seemed like the niave, innocent sort who desperately needed a taste of reality.

With a mental sigh, Aeryn shoved her negative thoughts aside. It wasn't the girl's fault she couldn't defend herself. With a ring of steel, she unsheathed her sword, holding it with the point lowered. She didn't want to provoke the men, boys, really, to attack her, but she wanted to have a weapon at the ready.

"Alright, lads, break it up," the guard barked, her voice the authoritative tone of someone who was used to civilians doing what she said.

[Tarin]

Tarin was minding his own business... more or less. As a thief he was always looking for something to steal, but that was secondary in his mind at the moment; He was just enjoying the night air.

Suddenly he heard a din followed by the cold rasp of steal. It sounded like a fight, and he was always in for some entertainment. He jogged a short way to see what was happening, several young men seemed to be accosting a girl, another woman, presumably a member of the guard, had just drawn her sword.

As much as he hated guards, and as much as he didn't like getting involved in fights, he would not stand for the mugging of a girl. Theft was one thing... but this was another.

Tarin sprinted into the melee tackling one of the assailants.

"People with swords any time now!" He called out while wrestling to keep his foe pinned.

[Aeryn Cooper]

Aeryn watched as a stranger tackled one of the men, giving a growl of frustration. So much for resolving the situation quietly. Once again, she considered walking away. If some young hotshot wanted to sabotage her attempt to help a girl and get himself killed in the process, there was nothing she could do about it.

However, the guardswoman realized that no one in Marn was ever that eager to help. Growing suspicious, she decided she should do something after all. While the men were theoretically distracted by the idiot who had tackled one of them, she skipped forward and grabbed the young woman's arm, pulling her out of the group and dragging her back a half-dozen feet.

Holding her sword up, Aeryn placed herself between the muggers and their intended victim. "Now then, lads, you've got a choice," she said in an almost amiable tone. "You can come after this girl, who's got nothing to give you except maybe a place to dump your sperm, or you can deal with him," she explained, jerking her head in the newcomer's direction. "I'm sure you can find more willing women, and I've got a sword. He just tackled one of you. Are you going to take that?"

There. Save the girl, and get some sense knocked into an overeager young idiot. Two birds with one stone.

[Asiona & Lateus]

"Alright, lads, break it up" echoed through the alley, but Asiona only dimly heard it. She was too busy trying to breathe. However, the guys stopped shoving her around, letting her fall in an almost-broken heap. She was too disoriented to move right away, and remained on the ground a moment while the ruffians were stunned by the entrance of a blurred object coming toward them. As one of the muggers crashed to the ground Asiona understood: she was being saved! With effort she pushed herself to her feet, just in time for someone to yank her away. At first she thought it may have been one of the bad guys, but realized in time it was a woman who was about her height but much older. She had a sword and was standing in the way of the ruffians getting at her.

Asiona wasn't quite saved, but she felt hopeful. She was hurting all over and didn't want to try to run away, afraid of leaving the only comfort in her current situation—despite not knowing who they were.

For the criminals, the surprise of being interrupted only made them uncertain for a minute. While the woman talked they only sneered at her, confident of their numbers and skill. The leader, still sneering, said, "Oh yeah? Well maybe we want to beat you both to a pulp! And the girl's just the icing on the cake! Come on, there's only two of 'em!" Despite the fact that she was wielding a sword and seemed to know how to use it, three of the ruffians rushed at [Aeryn] with their long knives. The rest, three in total including the leader, went for the man, also waving their knives as if they were hot stuff.

Asiona looked at the man who had tackled one of them and gasped. The ruffian he had pushed to the ground was now lying in a small pool of blood on his stomach, [Tarin] on his back. It appeared that he had landed on his knife somehow, but she couldn't tell where.

The whole situation was moving too fast and she was no longer confused and knew exactly what was happening--and what could have. Despite the fact that it wouldn't help, Asiona began crying hysterically. She covered her mouth and tears dripped down her face, her shoulders shaking. Why was this happening to her?

[Tarin]

The kid he was on stopped moving. Judging by the large pool of blood forming he had landed on his own knife. Tarin stood up ready to fight.

"Stupid bitch," he though "that's what I get for trying to help."

He stood up and before he could quite get his bearings three of the six had surrounded him, knives out.

He didn't think that these thugs deserved to be handled with the revolver, and taking Marissa out of the pack on his back would be foolhardy with all the possible witnesses. That left him unarmed against three people with knives.

"Hey, pals... um, I'm poorer than her. You don't need to rob me!" He grinned uncomfortably.

"What's in the bag?" the leader snapped.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Tarin returned stalling for time.

He took a gamble and charged the guy just left of the gang's leader. Unfortunately the target was more alert than he looked and put his blade roughly into Tarin's gut. Tarin's eyes got wide as he stared at the blood running out of his body.

He tumbled back, hand holding his gut, as if it would help his blood stay in. Using his other hand he pulled the revolver from his belt, he pulled back the hammer to set the next bullet into the chamber. The tell-tale click echoing loudly in the alley.

"Get the hell outta here." He called out as loud as he could muster. "Just run, and no one has to be killed."

[Aeryn Cooper]

Aeryn gave a sigh when three of the thugs charged her. She knew she shouldn't have gotten involved. Shifting her grip on her sword, she spun it so the handguard was perpindicular to her arm. That way, when she swung she would strike with the flat of her blade. No more blood needed to be shed. In the back of her mind she realized she'd have to arrest the young man who had tackled one of the would be muggers on charges of murder, but she pushed that thought aside.

Armed with a sword, the guardswoman had several feet of steel on the would be muggers. Sidestepping, she swung at the man on the right's side before she was within his blade's reach. The flat of her sword knocked the wind out of him, and she spun, striking him in the back of the head with the pommel, knocking him out.

Aeryn was about to go after another when she heard the click of a firearm. Spinning, she turned to see the hotshot who had tackled the thug earlier hold a revolver. "Put the gun down, lad," she said calmly, still keeping an eye on the criminals. "You don't need to kill anyone else, alright? You don't want more blood on your hands, do you? Just set it down easy-like."

[Asiona & Lateus]

Asiona could hardly see through her tear-filled eyes but it was quite clear that the man had made a foolhardy mistake, and was stabbed for it. When he aimed the gun at the ruffians he faced she quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks and tried her best to stop crying. She had never had occasion to see a gun any closer than under glass at the Gnomish Shop, and definitely not in action; they were too unreliable for the shopkeeper to have shown her. Despite the circumstances, she was excited to see it, and from this distance it looked like quite a fine piece of work. She wished she could hold it in her hands and figure out how it operated.

When her woman protector told him to put the gun down, Asiona had to step in. "But he's been stabbed! And they outnumber you guys three to one! Erm, well, now about maybe two-point-five to one..." She stared down at the guy who had been knocked out, amazed that someone with a sword didn't kill. The woman really knew her stuff. Maybe she was a member of the guard, or a trainer.

The muggers facing [Tarin] were nervous, holding their hands up in appeasement gestures. The two previously fighting with [Aeryn] were looking at the gun same as she was, and to their boss to see what to do. Everyone was now extremely tense because of the gun even though the chances of it actually working and hurting someone could be slim. No one wanted to take that chance, it seemed.

In the back of her mind she felt another surge and thought she felt Lateus' presence. Yet, when she looked around, she didn't see anything. The sky and the few clouds up there were turning red-orange and purple as the sun set. The shadows loomed out further from the walls of the alleyway as it went down. It made her world seem gloomy. With all the blood it was becoming a horror show and she didn't know what to do to stop the violence.

[Tarin]

It looked like his bluff had worked. The gang looked nervous and slowly started backing off. They left the alley and everyone in it at a brisk jog. Tarin slumped down against the wall. Based on the woman with the sword's reaction his plan had worked too well. He held the revolver to his head and pulled the trigger- it made a harmless click.

"I have it set so the first chamber is empty," He said quietly "I just scare people off with it."

He slid the cylinder out and rotated it so that once again, if he pulled the hammer, nothing would fire. He slid it back into hi belt.

"But I guess thats what you get for being a good samaritan... eh guardswoman? You are a guardswoman aren't you, certainly are built like one." He chuckled grimly though he was bleeding heavily.

"Are you alright, girl?" Tarin got back to the point of this misadventure, "You have your necklace, and your honor?"

[Aeryn Cooper]

Aeryn watched as the muggers moved off, still keeping her sword at the ready. When the bleeding young man started speaking, she glanced over at him, and her eyes widened in shock as he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. However, it soon became clear that he was unharmed.

"Good samaritan?" the correctly identified guardswoman repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Murderer. You're under arrest," she said gruffly, lowering the point of her sword so it was level with the young man's chest. "Do yourself a favor and hand over the pistol. If you come quietly, I might be able to convince someone to look at your wound. We guards don't like our prisoners dying before the judges are through with them."

Glancing over her shoulder, Aeryn nodded at the young woman who had been attacked. "Get on home, now," she said, her tone only a little bit gentler than that she had used when adressing her 'prisoner'. "Try not to get attacked on the way, too. I don't want to have to drag anyone else down to the jail because they tried to save your ass."

[Asiona & Lateus]

"Try not to get attacked on the way, too. I don't want to have to drag anyone else down to the jail because they tried to save your ass."

At these harsh words Asiona's eyes began to refill with tears. Her hands tightened into fists at her sides and she bit her lip to keep from breaking down crying again. After she composed herself enough she said, "You can't arrest him!" as calmly as she could, trying to sound tough. "He saved me. The people you should be going after right now are those, those, horrible people!" An accusing finger pointed after the muggers. She had to hold her breath so that she wouldn't start hiccupping, her face indignant, unable to believe that this woman could possibly want to subject this guy to punishment when he had helped. "He was just trying his best... And at least he actually did something instead of just yelling at them!" A tear dripped down her face as she tried to puff up her chest so she could defend her savior.

She looked down at the injured—or dead—ruffian. "But um... maybe the guy isn't dead..." Asiona bent over the body, only to poke him timidly. He didn't react, so she thought she should turn him over... but felt too squeamish. "Maybe we need a healer..."

She looked up at the guardswoman and then to her other rescuer, hoping to find some sanity in the whole situation. With a bit of sheepishness she pointed at his wound, still bleeding through his clothing, and remarked, "Okay, we definitely need a healer. First and foremost, before you ...don't... arrest him!" She tried to sound tough and authoritative on the latter sentence, but the recent crying made her voice waver.

[Tarin]

Tarin rolled his eyes, here he was staining the ground red and all super guard could think of was arresting him.

"First of all, I didn't kill anyone, he fell on his own knife. Second of all I'm not sure he's dead." The mugger had stopped bleeding a while ago, he was as dead as you could get, but that gave Tarin some power.

He focused hard on the body trying to will it to move like he could make the skeleton of his beloved Marissa move. All he needed was the arm to shift a little to give the illusion of life. MOVE YOUR ARM Tarin screamed mentally.

A finger twitched on the corpse of the mugger, that was good, it was a reasonable claim to him being alive, however when he sent out such a powerful command the skeleton in his bag had jerked in response to it, causing a dull clunk as the contents of his bag shifted.

"See, he moved." Tarin started up again hoping no one noticed "Name's Tarin, might I know who is arresting me and for whom I am being arrested?" He flashed a winning smile which quickly became a grimace as the pain in his gut redoubled.

[Aeryn Cooper]

Grinding her teeth together in frustration, Aeryn rounded on the young woman. "Will you shut up?" she growled. "I can't arrest them. They didn't do anything. Yes, they were going to something, but they didn't get a chance. 'Going to' isn't going to hold up in a court. They didn't seriously injure you, and you still have your life, your possessions, and any virginity you had to start with. Now go home."

Turning back to the young man, the guardswoman glared at him, then, with a booted foot, roughly turned the corpse over. The dead man's hand was still wrapped around the handle of the blade that was lodged deeply in his chest, and blood covered his clothing and ran from the corners of his mouth. His eyes were still wide open, his face frozen by death in an expression of thought.

"See, he's dead," Aeryn said firmly. "He's not moving anywhere. Must just be rigor mortis setting in." Pointing her sword at the young man again, she glared at him again. "He's dead because you tackled him. Maybe after a stay in the jail you'll learn to think before you act. According to Marn law, you're under arrest. Get up."

[Asiona & Lateus]

Asiona sniffed loudly, not noticing the finger twitch and trying to figure out what the man had meant. She jumped when the guardswoman yelled at her, then blinked up at her before hiccuping. "Of course I have my virginity... Right?" Asiona looked extremely concerned for a moment before she made herself stop thinking about that. Maybe she didn't want to think about what could have happened...

She knew that the woman wasn't listening, but she continued on in the background anyway. "B-but... They had knives... And they tried to mug me! See, they took my necklace! ...But then they threw it over there," she said, pointing at the faintly shining necklace a few paces away. "I-if he's getting arrested for causing an accidental death, then those guys should be arrested for beating on me. Look at my bruises!" She held out her arm and pulled up the sleeve, showing some newly emerging bruises and a few cuts on her hands from trying to fend them off. As if she was reminded, she began bawling loudly. The woman wasn't listening or looking, instead talking to the man, so she felt as if all was for nothing. How could the law be so cruel? I thought it was supposed to be fair! she thought in her head. Another thought emerged, What is 'fair'?, but she ignored it, unsure if it was even her own.

At that moment [Aeryn] kicked the corpse over, and the girl saw his dead face and the blood. She screamed shrilly and flung herself away until she hit the wall with her back. She remained there breathing heavily for a moment, and then burst out crying again. Shivering from air that was turning colder as night began to appear, she pulled her knees up and covered her head, her loud crying muffled by the clothing covering her arms and knees.