Trouble at its Finest...

[Ashla]

Closed to Karuka. Yes, I know, I suck at starting threads xD Sorry.

Radansanth, a very good reason to visit Corone... It was a large and beautiful city. Large enough to hide even the largest of shadows amongst the crowd. The lady and duchess of Eiskalt could be a good example. After their homeland was ravaged and she gave up her position, Ashla Icebreaker and her partner, Julius Tabor, had been forced to find refuge elsewhere. Multiple races of any form could be found in any direction there was to look. Young children would play on the curbs, women would try to keep the children behaved while hanging laundry, and men would be found in places from blacksmiths to grocery stores.

And that was where Ashla was today. Grocery stores.

This girl was in the hunt! The hunt for the finest apples in the world! She had ventured many stores, searched high and low, paid to have taste tests, and examined the many shapes and colors... But all she could find were the basics that anyone could find stuffed up in the standard market. Ashla sighed as she entered the next shop. It was a good sized store which was closed up by walls and a roof. The windows were open to let the sunshine on this beautiful day come in. The door had been left open as well, by the teenager who had immediately started her search for apples again...

Ashla smiled as she searched aisle after aisle for a set of apples. Finally, she had found several bowls of some light green apples placed right next to each other. Ashla could tell these were most likely sour, however she liked them sweet. She was about to turn to look some more (or just leave) but she was caught by a store manager first.

"Hello, young lady, I see you were taking a gander at our vast and lively apple selection."

Ashla rolled her eyes before turning to face the man behind her, 'Lively', 'vast', are you kidding me?? She then turned to the vendor with an attempted smile, "Yes; yes, I was."

This man was skinny, tall, and almost bald. He was dressed in the standard salesman's outfit. He approached her with a look that screamed 'money, money, money!' "These ripe, freshly picked apples are perfect for the taking, my friend! They are only the best in Corone."

Ashla tried to stifle a scoff, Yeah, just about every salesman I ran into around here has told me that about their shops... "I- uh... Do you allow samples?" Her grin was beginning to look more fake than natural.

The man didn't even seem to notice though, maybe his head was wrapped up in money? he spoke, "We do, fine m'lady, step right up and take a bite!"

Are you inquiring that I am a lady? I'm more of a tomboy who would love to slice you to shreds, thank you very much... "th-th-thank yo-you, si-i-r."

The man then motioned her to a take a bite of the very apples they were selling, cut up into pieces just for samples. And of course, as Ashla envisioned they would be, they were sour. Really sour.

Ashla almost wanted to throw up, this was the worst apple she had ever eaten! She turned away from the store manager again and with an extremely cringed face, forced the apple down. She didn't want to seem rude or anything...

She turned back to the man, rolling her tongue in her mouth to get the taste out. "Th-that was... g-great. B-but I think I'll pass..." Before he could reply, the Icebreaker turned to leave, waving her hand in a hopeful farewell, "Thank you anyways!" She gave him a final smile before turning around again. She once again made a face like she was about to to throw up. She was heading straight out of here! She would find better apples soon... hopefully...

... But Ashla's clumsiness did it again. Just when Ashla was about to head out, she crashed into somebody...

[Karuka]

Karuka weaved dangerously through the streets of Radasanth. It was only early afternoon, she wasn't drunk, and she'd slept decently the night previous, so by all reasoning, she should have been steady on her feet. However, more than two months on a lumbering ship that had rocked and rolled with every shift of the ocean beneath had accustomed the roaming redhead to walking steadily on an unstable surface. As such, terra firma - Radasanth's familiar cobblestones, for example - seemed to lurch beneath her feet. She still smelled of algae and her hair was still stiff with sea salt; not even an hour had passed since her ship had pulled into port.

Th' first day is always th' worst, goin' or comin'.

Even her phoenix, loyal Taodoine, had abandoned his usual perch on her shoulder to fly above her head, where he wasn't subjected to her uncoordinated steps.

Everywhere she turned, she saw streets she knew swarmed by a sea of people she didn't. While Corone's capital and largest port had ever been far too crowded to know everyone, but it was unsettling that of the few mainstays, many had been replaced by new faces. Vendors hawked at passersby in a tongue she knew, but hadn't heard in so long it fell strangely on her ears. Young children, small and nimble, dashed through the adults on their ways to and from home or into and out of trouble. They all laughed and shouted, so it was impossible to tell which was their aim.

It's been an ay long time.

Karuka stopped for a second at the side of the road, holding onto her trusty old spear to steady her. A decade spent in Kebiras hadn't felt so very long while she was living it; part of her still couldn't believe she'd been on Althanas for almost half her life already, whisked away from Earth as a very young woman. Everything she had done, everyone she had met, surely the time between those adventures and this present return wasn't more than a heartbeat? Of course, enough time had also passed for old angers and hurts to heal, for her to grow from an awkward youth into a more patient woman. It had been forever.

A sensible part of her knew that. Ten years was a long time.

Seeing it was like a sledgehammer to the heart, though.

Best find some supplies an' then go see what still is and what isn't anymore.

Turning left on a road near the famous Bazaar, Karuka walked toward a shop with a grocer's sign on it, only to have the door slam open and a dark-haired, pale-skinned young woman come flying out at her. A golden hand reached out to grasp a thin shoulder before the girl's charge could become a collision, and dark red lips gave her a warm smile.

"Easy there, lass. Y' shouldn't fly so fast y' fall. Are y' alright?"

[Philomel]

"Persimmons or pomegranates?"

She held one in each hand, balancing out the fine exotic fruits. Pure icterine eyes akin to royalty blinked up at her as she addressed him again with the question.

"Persimmons or pomegranates? Which do you prefer?"

A small pink tongue snaked out and licked the black lips as Veridian did not answer, only stared at the objects in her hands. Evidently he had no opinion over which the faun should buy. One was a bright merry orange, and the other a pink-red; larger but much more awkward to eat. Each had their different sweet tones that would capture the hungry taste buds and make them dance, and it all depended on what you felt like.

But Philomel did not know. This was the heart of the conundrum. So she turned to her ever-steady Earth Spirit companion for assistance, but even his telepathic connection to her good self did not help. He was as silent as the still wind, with no real life behind the void that was the gap between their two minds. All he did was blink up at her and swish his white-tipped tail in a fox version of a shrug.

"You know, that is not useful, Veridian," the faun sighed, turning around.

Facing back to the waiting grocer she gave an apologetic smile, and asked for two of both, rather than four of one. Depositing what she had in her hands into the small leather satchel at her hip she paid for it with a fine silver piece, then walked away. Veridian looked up to the confused grocer, holding the coin, and gave him a little nickering grin. Showing his sharp canines he cheeked him, then sprinted away, fast after the sexy faun who held his heart.

Hooves and paws padded away, one grumpy and the other mocking. The Earth Spirit with the foxy form raced ahead, nose high in the air, sniffing out the next stop for orders - the melon stand - but was rudely interrupted by colliding figures in his way. Black hair mixed with dark red. He let out an annoyed bark, and now Philomel sensed his presence.

I want melon! he demanded into her mind, Philomel, tell them they are in the way of my honeydew melon.

The faun rolled her eyes, shifting her satchel across from left side to right side, the bare skin of her torso, minus the thin bustier, plain for all flirts to see.

"You are in the way of his honeydew melon."

[Ashla]

Ashla just kept blinking in surprise when the redhead in front of her had to stop her from colliding into her. The woman's voice was kind, but Ashla knew that just like her, it could be a charade to hide thoughts of murder. Ashla took a step back, holding her hands up in surrender. Her back was now slightly brushing against an oak stand which had some product Ashla did not know about. She stammered in her words, "I-I am so-o sorry! I didn't mean to-"

Then another person stepped up to them, a rather ticked off looking faun with "sass" written all over her. She boldly spoke that they were in the way of some other kind of fruit, the statement alone indicating that she wanted them both to move out of the way. Ashla was now even more embarrassed than what she was before, her cheeks growing to a slight pink, "I-I'm sorry- I-" She stepped out of the way, her eyes briefly changing color to their ice stage then back again. She really just wanted to leave this dumb store now!

The three young women now seemed to have gone silent. Ashla's eyes flickered to the small animal following the faun with an equally ticked feel to its eyes. It reminded her a lot of her own tiger cat Fireleaf. That cat sure had a lot of attitude! Ashla had left him in the inn she and her close companion Julius Tabor had stayed in the night before. She was pretty sure the troublesome feline was either sleeping on the brunette boy's head still, or wrecking enough havoc to get her lover booted out. That thought enough was able to brighten Ashla's mood up a bit. However, she still had two girls who most likely wanted to slice her apart standing in front of her. Ashla let out a small sigh and just waited for one of them to respond, uncomfortably placing her hands behind her back and squeezing them.

Before any of the tension could die down though, a group of men came into the shop. There were about six of them, ruffians who looked like they were better off as hunters in the wild than city dwellers. Ashla blinked as most of them passed by - two stayed at the door though. Only several other people were at the store, and they didn't seem to notice as the group occupied different parts of the shop. Ashla's eyes widened when she suddenly noticed that alongside their leather hides and gruff hair, they had weapons on them as well.

The girl's breathing began to accelerate, her blue eyes darted left and right as she realized what could be happening right now. The men were not speaking, so they were most likely staging a very likely stick up.

"Aw man..." Ashla whispered; her stomach feeling like it was rising up to her chest, "... Aw crap!"

[Karuka]

"Easy, lass. Yer all right." Karuka stepped into the store, out of the fox's way, and let the faun follow him. She'd never seen a person with a goat's rump before, but Althanas was a land so full of the unusual, unexpected, and impossible that she barely took notice of it. The other woman was unusually tall, but while the redhead could almost smell her impatience, she didn't sense any malice from her.

The same was not true for the half-dozen roughs whose heavy boots creaked over the rough wood of the shop's floor, perusing the women more than the goods. Thirty winters, more of them harsh than gentle, had taught Karu to be wary of such men, that anyone who moved like a predator had best be treated like one. Instinctively, she shifted between two of the larger roughs and the slender, swearing girl, letting the teen have the path to the doorway in case things got ugly.

It didn't take more than another minute. The men, some lean and wolfish, others huge and muscular like bulls, each found his proper position. At a nod from the tallest, leanest man, the burliest slammed the door shut, trapping the three women and the poor grocer. Karuka focused on him, the unsteadiness of her legs at the back of her mind. The goat-girl, she figured, could probably take care of herself; those legs looked like they could easily propel a jump or power a kick. But the slip of half-elf behind her? Just a girl, small and scared, or so she seemed.

"Ladies," he addressed them in a rich tenor, to the snickering of some of his companions. "Let us tell you that we have no intent on your lives, if you follow instructions. We'll take your coin, your weapons..." he looked over the skimpily-dressed faun, the tawny redhead with burning blue eyes, and the slender young woman behind her, and decided he liked what he saw. "And your clothes."

Karuka's hand raised, snaking sharp lines through the air. Blue eyes flashed gold. And a bolt of lightning lashed from the tip of her spear, striking out at the speaker and dropping him to the floor. He flopped and twitched helplessly beside a basket of cabbages, long black hair covering his face and sinewy body jerking like a fish pulled from the water.

"My name," she said, drawing all eyes to her, "is Karuka O'Sheean. I have served a long time as the personal bodyguard for the Archduke of Jalaan. I have fought against people like you hundreds an' hundreds of times. If y' all value yer lives, you'll take yer friend an' leave."

The rabble exchanged glances with each other; the woman had dropped one of them with little more than a wave of her hand. If this was an ordinary robbery, running would be the prudent move. They knew it. So did she.

Five sets of weapons worked loose from five leather belts, and Karuka grumbled a curse. Of course it had to be the hard way. She gripped her staff and waded into combat.

[Philomel]

It was easy to follow the man's suggestion. Raising both her hands Philomel swiftly unbuttoned her blouse with one set of nimble fingers, and grabbed her keris knife with the other. The knife had no name as yet, and neither did her new sword, but still it sung into the air and shone back the light with glorious vivacity. As the eyes of the brigands began to widen at her revelation, she found her lips begin to separate and a laugh spiralling from her throat.

"Come and get me darlings!" she jeered, and let the blouse fall.

To reveal her simple bustier beneath. Veridian sprinted forwards, letting out a vicious bark as loud as his small body could emit. He lunged straight for the nearest being, the one with a serated knife and broken teeth. The ginger-head, the girl who claimed to have once been a bodyguard - heaven forbid, the people they came across these days, bloody hell - was guarding herself, ready to throw herself into battle. And the shamelessly shy one seemed preparing to throw into a panic. A jolt of lightening threw across the room and a man was grounded. Philomel breathed, sharp, quick, passive. One second seemed an age as the bright light died and Veridian's bark fell to naught.

His jaws buckled around the cotton-covered leg, and the faun-whore's laugh grew in momentum. Her blouse, now on the floor, was trampled by her hooves, and into her free hand appeared her bright white sword. Fly, fly, she flew, straight after her beloved fox companion, crying out a challenge.

"You never learn, you men of waste!"

Oh she had removed her clothing. And yea, she had removed her weapons from her belts. But she had not placed them on the ground, as the men probably expected - slash, wanted - her to do but kept them in her hands. Maybe it looked like she was about to hand them over as she danced to the man, but she rather aimed to dig them into his body rather than his hand.

"I also have no money," she sang, stabbing him in the gut, "Just pommegranates and persimmons."

The man howled, grabbing his foot from the bite, then crouching over with the dagger at his belly. Blood spilled over the shop ground, humans dropped like flies.

[Ashla]

Oh great, another overpowered person who's stronger than me... Ashla thought as the red-head introduced herself and threw herself into battle. Another man raced towards her with an axe. The red faced Icebreaker quickly raced to her blood-cold instincts and defended herself. She ducked and slid away from the man, her agility showing as she drew her sword and slashed his lower legs with grace. After the man fell besides her, Ashla went on to stab his between his stomach and his liver. Not in a vital spot, but is a place that made it hard to move. The girl stood and pulled her broadsword out, her victom crying out in pain. Then-

-What the crap... "Hey, lady!" Ashla turned her head away from that... scene... "Put on a freaking shirt for those with dignity around here!" Ashla then turned, still red, to look at two more goons. One carried a spear, the other had a bow and arrow ready. Ashla sighed, And pulled her free hands in front of her and allowed her power to flow towards it. A blue light shone as a simple ice dove formed in her hand. Just as she let go, the bowman shot. Ashla jumped out of his way then drew her steel longsword. As a short explosion sounded and the archer cried out, Ashla raced towards the man in a complete offense. The two then entered a tight melee battle, Ashla swang heavy and hard with her swords while the spearman calmly blocked. Ashla's eyes began to form their icy, white-blue stage - she was getting frustrated. An extra bolt of lightning rage allowed her to push the oak spear out of the man's way as she sent a kick flying towards the side of his face. When she hit him, Ashla sent her damascus broadsword towards his chest, cutting him down. Ashla then turned to face the archer again, the winds of battle flourishing in her eyes. All of her timidness was gone, replaced with a feisty girl with the frozen over heart, a heart that knew an entire war.

Ashla's allowed the air to re-enter her lungs after her last fight, placing her longsword back and pulling out her dagger instead. The bowman was still recovering, holding his face which was covered with goose-bumps from the frosty effects of her ice dove. The Icebreaker huffed as the man struggled to look at her, still trying to ready his bow. Ashla's eyes briefly darted to the activity of the other girls fighting for their lives in here, then back to the missile fighter who just finally got himself pulled together. Ashla raised her sword...