Friend of a Friend [closed]

[Flamebird]

Oh look, a gang.

The gruff, bulky dwarves cleared the path for one, small man. Wait, no, he was too small to be human… Yes, his unusually large, hairy bare feet and curled hair confirmed quite the odd creature. This small male, who wore glasses and a jacket with a lavish skull symbol, was a halfling.

Felicity never met a halfling before. She had heard they were free spirited, merry folk who preferred to take a nap and lazily fish more than anything else. Yet, here one was, a gang leader. Felicity guessed she shouldn’t judge a race by stereotypes.

The blond halfling pulled a pipe from his mouth, releasing smoke fumes from his chapped lips, “Quit the chatter, Matthew. You know what we want.”

The bartender, Matthew, scowled. He turned and walked towards the back. Felicity felt her heart pounding as she hastily observed the scene. It was odd, but everyone seemed surprisingly calm. Not many patrons showed any concern, at least visible. They just watched with impatience as the dwarvern henchmen scowled. Soon enough, Matthew came back with three heaping sacks of glittering coin. “Three fourths of my income, all yours.”

Words from earlier echoed in Felicity’s mind. ”Because I’m too sensitive for drama, this will be on the house.”

Everything clicked.

As the dwarves started to collect their easily looted gains, it made sense. The more sensitive bartender gave them anything they wanted in exchange for a lack of trouble.

The halfling let out another puff of smoke, “Thank you. Just so you know, our protection has been halved.”

Alarm shot through the innkeeper's eyes, “What?”

The halfling clenched the pipe in his mouth, scowling, “One of your patrons gave our men a little too much trouble the other night. So half of your protection is keeping him as our guest.” Through tinted glasses, he glared with a low growl, “Do you have a problem with that?”

He silently shook his head, like a disciplined toddler.

The halfling sneered, a crooked smile forming, “Good. Always a pleasure doing business with you,” He turned and started to walk out, smirking, “Coward.”

As Matthew lowered his head, shamed, Felicity clenched her fists. Her teeth gritted as the unfolding situation burned her. Her chest flared, hot flames expanding as her reckless temper got the best of her. The tavern keep may have been a coward, but she was not.

She stood up, stomping her foot. She put a hand on her sword's hilt as she let out a powerful, raw, roar. “Hey!”

Almost at the front door, the smoking halfling stopped and turned his head. The sunlight bounced off his glasses, his long neck collar and pipe covered his bottom face. This made his expression completely unreadable. Felicity’s tightened free fist was raised, eye dilated, as she boomed, “You think you can get away with that on my watch?”

The dwarves all seemed… confused. As they glanced at each other with confused expressions, the halfling raised a lazy hand and pulled the pipe from his mouth. A puff of smoke flew around his face as he muttered something under his breath. Then, he spoke in a voice that hinted that he was… bored?

“Who are you again?”

Felicity sharply drew her sword. The delyn blade shimmered as dust floated around it. The child hissed as her eyes alone spat enough venom to kill. She did not even take the time to reply. Instead, she darted forward. She lunged her sword at the nearest dwarf. She attacked.

One would think that the fight was unfair for her, yet she quickly proved her skill. Her bladesmanship was violent, quick to the point, and effective. Brutally, she used the half swording techniques the apply blunt damage to the dwarves. Kicks and punches were thrown in as she used her superior reach to evade and conquer. It was within mere seconds that she stood around a pile of bruised, broken, but alive dwarves. As they moaned, the unmoved halfling sighed, “Seriously?”

Felicity hastily walked up to the mobster, untainted blade tip pointed at his face.

The ring leader scoffed, a smirk formed over his mouth. “Honestly, those guys are horrible. I just brought them because they look tough and I didn’t expect trouble.” He shot a warning glance at Matthew, who hid his face from the halfling. Seemingly exhausted, the gangster scowled, “It is pathetic though, they got beat up by a little girl with improper form, poor fine motor movement, and obvious temper issues.”

Felicity barked, “D-don’t insult me, slime!”

The halfling merely shrugged, smirking as he raised a golden ring with a cyan gem in the air, “And come on, lass, we both know you would not actually use that blade on me. You do not have what it takes to kill, do you not?”

Her eyes widened, a silent gasp escaped her.

The halfling smirked, “That is what I thought.”

The ring began to glow. Even the darkest corners of the shaded bar were illuminated by the glowing light. Felicity had to step back, cover her eyes, as the mobster shouted proudly.

“Besides, even if you tried, nobody could beat Hunter Thornbush in a fight. Nobody!”

The light reached blinding proportions before… darkness again.

Felicity squinted, barely able to take in the visuals of the shocked mine as she attempted to track the gang leader again. The smell of beer and whiskey, vomit and urine, hit her hard. All unpleasant scents to her. The numerous murmurs and hasty escapes of patrons flooded her ears as she felt the wind of a sea of people racing past her. Yet, even as the door opened and most left the building, Felicity could already figure out one thing.

This Hunter Thornbush had escaped.