The Sword and Staff [All Welcome]

[Lye]

It felt, good? When was the last time I hugged someone? I mean, hugged, not restrained or choked out, but actually held someone without the intent to see them lifeless in the next few minutes. It felt warmer than my cheeks and the soaked clothes. That much was fact.

"I missed you," I muttered before the collar of my leather armor embraced my trachea. My hands left warm memories and clutched at the cold linen as I was dragged away.

My mind ran scenario after scenario of spinning around and severing the appendage behind me. Grabbing my knife, sweeping the legs, putting steel in someone else's throat. I kept thinking of the different ways to work myself out of this and instead, watched my feet flail like a guppy out of water. The voice cued a sobering chill down my back and just the one I did not want to hear at the moment. I fell slack, almost like a stubborn child, knowing all well that she wasn't trying to kill me.

Not yet at least.

"I liked you better whimpering in chains," I scoffed, arms folded before she shoved me toward a booth.

I staggered, stumbled, and caught myself between the backrest and the table. I looked up and as my dirty silvered hair parted from over my face, I looked eye to eye with yet another bitter headstone in my mind's grave of memories. Can't forget that ugly face, mask or no mask.

"Fuckin' you too?" I spat. No literally, a little spittle sprayed her way. "What's a guy got to do to find some peace and quiet around here?!"

This one I definitely felt needed to die. I shoved off so I could reach for one of my blades, but... where the fuck were they? I could have sworn -- Ah! There it is! As I felt the hard steel on the tips of my fingers, I slouched against another object. Looking up rewarded me with a waterfall of crimson locks and porcelain skin etched with black.

"Could you kindly, fuck off?" I repeated from the phrase I remembered from moments ago.

Instead, I was hoisted and plopped down across from the stick witch as playing cards slid my way. She did love this game with Diggs and Hedge. I narrowed my eyes in contemplation. Were they dead? I don't remember killing them? Or did I?

I shrugged and buried my chin into my neck, looking at the set of five cards in front of me. Never did gamble much. Knew enough to get by. I plopped my hand atop them and slid them off the table. One fell loose into my lap before I gathered it up into a messy array I could actually make out. Looked moreso to the others as if I were studying Fae hieroglyphics.

"So, uh..." I slurred, turning myself to Scarlet. "If I shoved that vial down your throat would you stop being such a cu--?"

The word stopped short in my throat as the tangy wave of chunky residue rose to meet it. Some rather moist and bubbly noises spilled out of my mouth, but I stifled back the lovely taste of hop mash and semi-fermented barley.

[Philomel]

Philomel was part the way through opening her mouth, the answer to Storm's queries and wondering on the edge of her tongue. His questions about her, what kept her going, what her life was truly, at its core. And she had listened intently, gearing up for an epic answer as all the while Veridian kept his conversation with the boy-man going.

But then there was a thunder, and a rush of wind and a loud man came in. A whisper of silver hair, a bright pair of eyes. Clothed mostly in black he was abused by the rain, looking bedraggled but still as fierce. Still as powerful, still as -

Philomel froze and immediately ducked her head, cursing under her breath. Pulling herself down beyond where her head could appear over the back of the chair, she looked at Storm.

"Damn. Damn, feck."

Her heart raced and her mind swam as she thought about he who had just came in as a tempest, roaring to someone that apparently had escaped his clutches. The whole pub was going quiet, the disturbance quite just that - disturbing.

Quickly she looked over to the side and tried to catch the eye of one of her employees, but she - name - was entirely not paying attention. Neither was any of the others of her people with a brief look.

"That man who just came in is Lichensith Ulroke," Philomel said quickly and quietly. "I want nothing to do with him tonight. You said you had a room upstairs? Perhaps we could continue this conversation up there? Privately," she ground a hand into a fist, the anger clear.

Veridian meanwhile looked over to her but nodded, the idea of what would happen next forming between them. He would stay here for now, with Fenn, and in a sign of danger bring him to her.

Philomel peeked a look back over at Lichensith who seemed to be deflating slightly. His body and muscles were sagging as he sat amongst Amari and Madison, easing between anger and ... depression. She was confused for a moment - was this really the same man who had ruined so many people's lives? Who had brought back the Crimson Hand when the world really did not need it?

She paused and looked back to Storm. "Or we can stay. Or go. Do you want to go? I can offer you much more delight than here."

To be frank, despite how the silver-haired snake appeared, she still knew that any encounter she might have with him would end up with blood spilt. Curses to him and that stupid tournament he had told everyone to take part in in the Crimson Hand, just so that he could seem amazing. Well she was bloody amazing now.

[redford]

Many things happened around John as he repeated the action of drinking and calling for another round for himself, sometimes broken by the flip of a golden coin on the table to keep the liquor flowing, followed by whoever was serving him nervously saying that they hadn't the change for gold. Maybe silver, but not gold. John paid their remarks no mind and continued to drink. He had built a sizable buzz as the bustle of the bar rose and fell with people milling around. Vincent had left more than once to check on one thing or another, and Rayleigh had made sure to voice her opinion on the matter.

His ears picked out a word from the bustle, though, a word that drew his gaze, and then drew him to his feet, looking for the gathering.

Poker?

A trio sat at a relatively empty table, clearing off cups and all so that they could have a proper space to toss cards. John rose, striding toward them, pulling a cigar from the ether, already lit, and puffed on it as he sat down in a chair, a smoky haze already beginning to surround his head. He motioned for a bottle to be brought, and he formed a little cup with armor he had in his hand. fused to two of his fingers.

The bottle soon to be in hand, he waited for cards to be dealt.

[Amari]

Being in close proximity to the last piece of Scarlet that was 'good' had an effect on her, it was subtle, but to those with a keen eye, they'd notice that her small smirk wasn't forced and as actually, actually one of amusement as Madison both inwardly and outwardly groaned. "If the throws up on them, I'll buy you a new set, enchanted so that the sick just glides right off." She picked up her cards and promptly remembered that she was very shit at the game. She couldn't tell if her hand was good or bad.

Her scelera gaze wandered over to Ulroke who looked as though he was about to stab Madison, but instead he did some sort of semi amusing flip flop in the booth. "Ulroke." Her voice held a faint reminiscent tone of concern for the man. Why was he acting such the drunken fool? He dropped one his cards. a 7. Was that good? Were sevens good in this game? Shit. She didn't know.

"A cunt?" Scarlet finished, shuffling the cards in her hand so they were in numerical order. Again, there was that tug at her chest, it felt...almost heated. She wondered if that vial that he kept so close to his own chest was burning him, and a part of her secretly wished it was. "You're the one who insisted I become this way. Course, I have no clue." She shot him a challenging smirk. "You're welcome to try, but I doubt you'd make it another step without passing out in a pool of your own vomit."

Her grin faded as he groaned and hid himself away. "Focus."

She should adhere to her own words, she glanced down at her cards then up at Madison. She knew she had to discard a few, so discarded her lowest numbered ones, that was how it worked...right? RIGHT?

"So...I bet 5 gold."

Even though he was an inebriated ass, it seemed his presence perked her up, and took her out of her stoic slump, even if she didn't notice it.

Another approached the table, a giant of a man who sat himself down next to Ulroke. Someone from the Tarot? She wasn't sure but she had her suspicions. She glanced back to Lye. Great. She'd have to make sure he didn't get himself killed.

"Pot is 5 gold, tin man."

[Ayaka]

He missed her? Gross.

What a pathetic man. I grimaced, and tried to pry him away. It wasn't until a redheaded woman picked him up by the collar and threw him into a booth that I had my reprieve. She wasn't jealous enough to be a former lover, caretaker perhaps? Or was she his leader? It seemed that way, the redhead was the silver sloppymans boss. I dusted myself off. Served me right to go and start causing shit. I should have just stayed with my book.

"Good riddance, mutt." I hissed at the man as I turned and sauntered back to my book, I placed the near empty glass on the counter and quick as lightning the glass was full again thanks to a well paid bartender. Ayaka held her glass up to him in thanks before taking another sip. She opened her book again.

Being felt up by riff-raff, not exactly how she had planned the night to go, he could have at least courted her first. Hell, even used her real name. Not the name of some presumably dead woman.

"I feel I could go a stronger drink...." I mused to myself.

[Atzar]

Atzar nearly jumped out of his skin when a newcomer did his level best to break the door down. A brief confrontation and an impromptu card game later, the young wizard’s head was spinning.

Jethro poured him a glass of mead, and Atzar took a second to consider it. A thousand voices screamed that Jethro looked unwell and sharing his bottle of mead was almost assuredly a bad idea, but screw it. The mead was free, the tavern grew rowdier by the second, and the mage was going to need some liquid assistance to cope.

“Thanks,” he said to blotch-skinned man, accepting the drink and taking a sip. Sweet and fiery, the wizard felt warmth rise to his cheeks almost as soon as he gulped it down.

“Good stuff,” he croaked, suppressing a cough. The bartender brought his second beer then, and Atzar nodded his thanks but left it on the bar behind him. He took another sip of mead and watched the silver-haired newcomer. The unkempt, drunken man was transfixed on his card game at the moment, but if a fight was going to break out, the mage knew where it would start.

[FennWenn]

HI VERIDIAN, he replied cheerfully, smiling slightly. So the fox was pretty clever! That made the earlier sniffing a little awkward though. STORM SPOOKY. I GO DO STUFF NOW!

The fox snorted curiously and again wrote meticulously, imitating Fenn’s all-capital style of scrawl. TO DO WHAT?

DUNNO DUNNO, JUST HAVE TO DO THINGS!

And so it was. The fae lept out of his chair with a gleeful puckish twirl and handed off the pretty Mao rabbit to Phi. The most dangerous emotion Fenn knew of was bubbling up in his chest; boredom.

A writing fox was a new oddity, and it intrigued him, yes. But there was so much oddity all around him that he couldn't help but stick his nose in places it didn't belong. Besides, he had been sitting for too long. Now that he had gotten over the fright of being spirited away multiple times, and the alcohol was starting to kick in, there were too many wayward drinks and other tiny items calling to him for him to stay where he was like a good boy. He almost wondered if it’d be worth it to snatch a wallet while he was at it...

That might get him kicked back out into the rain again. Maybe later, when the storm stopped. Fenn blew a raspberry at nowhere in particular. Fuck rain.

Fox-friend Veridian was trotting after him as he wandered, probably to make sure that he didn't get kidnapped again. Ducking under and around a few tables, Fenn found himself behind a blotchy-skinned man and a wiry black-haired guy sharing drinks. The wiry guy has left a glass just sliiightly off to the side...

Yoink! His now.

The boy downed the glass in a couple of gulps and replaced it just as fast, leaving behind a thick film of frost where there was once condensation. Chest shivering with soundless giggles, he dashed off to the next distraction.

Which was- oops. He strayed too close to bitch-tit Amari’s table. John sat there -- weird! -- along with some miserable silver-haired hobo and Hype’s “Madison” friend.

There was a deck of cards sitting in the middle of the table.

The logical side of his brain knew that he really shouldn't bother that table. Fenn’s hands twitched. His instinctual thief-child side, however, did nothing but oogle the glossy deck of cards, just lying out in the open. He sidled closer, mostly hiding behind John’s impressive bulk. Sure the deck was in use right now but it was just begging to be stolen. It was fancy and it had pretty pictures and...

Yoink! His now.

Smooth, shiny, glossy, magic-bright! And all his! The boy dashed off with his new prize, no explanation given for this act of petty larceny.

SERVES YOU RIGHT, MEANIE-AMARI!

[Philomel]

Dunno, dunno, just have to do things.

Veridian tilted his head as he watched the tiny man stand. Pale hair swung, green eyes glimmered. The fox looked intrigued and tilted his head. He tried to write in the vapour of the table that, no, he wanted to stay with Fenn and speak some more but the Fae was moving. Shoving Mao back into Philomel's lap - much to the faun's surprise - Fenn danced off, leaving Veridian with only one choice.

To follow. After all, it was his duty tonight, to fae-sit this man-boy of strangeness. Blood he was sure he had smelt, worries he had. He might have gotten onto the questions of asking exactly what had happened, when Fenn decided to move.

And the problem was, Veridian could not communicate to anyone but Philomel while on the move.

But neither could Fenn it seemed. He seemed to be very silent, voice caught in some sort of trap or prison. Thus, the two of them were lost in a casual one following the other.

Tiny feet scarpered across the pub floor, and Veridian extended his legs to keep pace. Paws barely touched the rugs and stone before the next one came and lifted him onwards, fast to follow the kid. They dodged things and people and suddenly they were at a table. Veridian looked up, seeing the red-head-nasty, then Madison twig-face - and then suddenly silver-hair-traitor Lye. His breath caught in his chest, he bit back a yelp before - well.

Fenn was running off again. Meaning Veridian needed to also dash, and desire bore him to flee away also. Away from that freak, that man who had hurt Philomel so deeply. As Veridian connected to Philomel and established his worry, he knew that she too had noticed him too. Quickly, she told him that she would either disappear with Storm-man upstairs, or stay here and defend her own rights, but that he, Veridian, should stay with the boy-man. Defend him until his last breath. Make sure that he did not get hurt again.

She was determined to find out the truth. And Veridian began to feel that way inclined, thus he ran with the boy-man, just missing a small piece of card that was flipped out of the stolen goods. Briefly, the fox saw a stylised royal head, and a small runic number. Strange, thought Veridian, to steal paper but then bi-pedals were strange.

Now was time to keep apace with Fenn. He turned back and stared at whatever people might be chasing after them, just in case, and let out a stern, angry bark, tinged with flame. It was a 'stay away' and 'do not follow'. Once his warning growl was set, Veridian turned around again, and continued the running away.

[Nekoprincess]

"Mommy! I want a drink! We've been traveling all day! I want milk NOW!" Mylie whined cutely, her tail twitching eagerly as she tugged on her mother's arm.

Rainee groaned her ears twitching from her little girl's incessant whining. However she was in luck, a tavern was coming into their sights.

It didn't look well-kept, but it certainly would get them out of the rain that was falling with an incessant PLOP ONTO the mother-daughter pair. Grabbing her little angel's hand she pulled her towards the creaky wooden door murmuring "Your in luck honey, a tavern is right here! You'll get your milk after all!" Rainee finished, her hand pushed the door openly easily.

Her eyes widened in shock as she pulled her daughter close, this tavern was a mad house. She could see a group gathered playing cards in the corner. Drunken garble heavy in the air. Letting out a soft meow she pulled her little girl close whispering "Do you want to go somewhere else for your milk honey?"

Mylie giggled, poking her mother in the chest she whispered innocently "Don't worry mommy! You'll be fine! You used to be more fun! Come on live a little!"

Rainee groaned her white tail swishing rapidly, before she released her rambunctious sweetie and let her drag her to the barkeep. Staring at the barkeep Rainee said softly "One milk please and....aww hell a glass of white wine..." Her daughter told her to lighten up and live a little, so what the hell, the cat-girl would treat herself this one time. However she stared into her daughter's mischievous green eyes saying strictly "No trouble sweetie, I mean it, we are only going to stay as long as you be a good girl!"

"Fine mommy!" Mylie exclaimed loudly as the barkeep served the little girl her milk in a tall glass cup and then gave Rainee her white wine.

[Nightsangel]

Sivienna was walking quietly across the cobblestone streets of Corone, her kistune was curled sleeping on her shoulder. She actually felt good for once. Rianna wasn't chasing her, she had caused her father to slink back into the shadows where he belonged. No problems were batting at her door.

Moving to stroke Serenity's head she whispered happily 'For once we are going to relax Serenity! No problems!" Spotting a tavern up ahead, Sivi giggled happily as she murmured "Perfect!"

Her kistune yipped sleepily, turning a sleep filled chocolate brown eye on her mistress, she barked softly "Go have your fun mistress! I know you need it!"

The night vixen's only response was "Thank god for fun!" she then made a beeline straight for the tavern's door, eagerly pushing it up.

She heard the normal loud drunken banter, she could see a game of cards was being played in the center. A half-smile came to her lips as she thought Maybe I"ll join the card game after a a few drinks!

Moving a strand of her lavender hair aside, she sauntered up to the barkeep, a smile on her full soft lips as she asked excitedly "A glass of blood wine please!"

The barkeep raised an eyebrow as he prepared the night angel's drinking asking quietly "Happy about something?"

Sivi's lavender eyes lit up as she answered easily "Just in bliss at finally being free from problems!"

Placing the vampiress's glass of blood wine in front of the beauty, the barkeep said dryly "This is the perfect place for ya to relax then! Enjoy yourself!"