Drink and a Show [Nghtmr103]

[Deleted]

One week, that was a long time for someone to have to wait for a return trip home. Jack had been persuaded to go along on a voyage with a crew of traders, normally she didn’t like to travel off of the island but, the pay she received was something she couldn’t pass up, the only problem was the traders, they had been to half a dozen islands in the past two months but now would not be returning back to the south blue for a week. It had been easy for her to keep busy previously because they stayed on each island for only a day or two, but seven days with her work for them now finished was going to drag, she had been paid a pretty sum though. The white haired teen was bored beyond words, she had no interest in helping the men sell their goods, not that they even asked her too and she didn‘t exactly have the gift of a silver tongue. They had been kind enough however to let her use the ship as a place to stay till they were ready to leave, of course that wasn’t the only place she planned to be, with the money she now had, she could afford drink and lots of it.
She had spent the better part of the morning wandering back and forth along the streets of the town, taking in the sights and sounds, it was sure as hell more noisy than back home, bigger too. As she moved through the street with her usual emotionless face, she noticed that she was getting more than a couple of strange looks and honestly? She couldn’t blame them really but at the same time she paid them no heed, as for the reason they were looking? Her clothes, the one thing that had never really been a concern for Jack was her clothes and as such the ones she had became ragged and worn as time went on and this day was no different, a purple tank top that had been ripped and torn to the point that it barely covered her ample chest, her midriff completely on show along with her not so womanly physique, her black pants, worn and torn but, still pretty intact compared to the top and her heavy duty black boots, then there was her white scarf wrapped around her neck and finally her staff strapped to her back. She certainly looked out of place and people knew it, not that anyone said anything to her face.
Eventually, Jack took herself into a tavern, it was a dirty looking place as one would expect, but some pride had been taken in looking after it as well as one possibly could in this day in age. The small female walked straight up to the bar and sat herself down, the barkeep came over soon after.
”One rum, one cider and one whiskey.”
Her face was a picture of serenity, almost as if she had forgotten how to show any emotion at all but truth was, she was happy right now, she was about to drink and that’s one of the few things she liked to do. The keep didn’t question anything about the girl, her breasts seeming to double as a sign that she was of age, whilst of course she wasn’t she wasn’t about to tell someone that. Before long she had the three tankards in front of her, She took the first tankard, the rum and took a few mouthfuls and then pondered to herself for a few moment then moved onto the other drinks in a similar manner and tasted them, thinking about each one as it spread over her pallet. She next proceeded to make short work of the whiskey and cider, draining both tankards in moments, she then looked up at the barkeep.
”Keep the rum flowing.”
The barkeep nodded sagely as the girl picked up her drink and moved over to a more private table, there was a small lantern on the table it wasn’t to dark, but still happened to be the darker corner of the place. Would this just be a day of drinking alone silently whilst batting away the advances of inebriated men? Probably, but life had a habit of changing drastically when you began to get complacent.

[nghtmr103]

The excursion Raito had in the East Blue had ended and he decided to return to more familiar waters. Money from his last job allotted him the funds to ferry him back into North Blue. This sea held many bad memories but regardless it was home, and plenty of spoils were just waiting for someone to take them. His month long journey had been boring to say the least but Raito had used this time to plan his next move. It seemed the people of Shivre Mountain might be in need of a little assistance. Remembering the wealth of Shivre that came from their elaborate mines brought dollar signs to his mind. Atleast it was a good place to start if nothing else. The wind blew threw Raito's hair as the gentle sea-water mist jumped up to the deck of the ship. This island was a sight to see, Shivre City was built halfway up the giant mountain that covered most of the landmass. As they pulled into port Raito disembarked and gave a nod to the crew he had been traveling with. Now if he remembered correctly the only way into the city was up the long road now presented ahead of him. In his time upon the Triumvirate Pirates ship he had come to this island once before. His captain at the time had some dealings with the Rock Bandits who sat atop the opposite mountainside closer to the summit. With any luck if he couldn't find a decent job in town they would have a little beri to throw around for taking out some vermin. In Raito's eyes the Rock Bandits were the most sad excuses for criminals, pirates who couldn't make it on the sea so they became bandits who held up in a cave and lashed out whenever they got up the guts. Staring up at the mountain he looked around where the bandit's hideout used to be years ago. Bits of smoke curled up from the side of the mountain indicating they most likely had not moved from their little settlement. Why should they? The marines payed no attention to them and the citizens of Shivre had no real army so as long as they had a stalemate it was a comfortable spot.

"Looks like before I leave I have to go see some old acquaintances."[/b]

Turning his attention back towards Shivre City Raito began the long trek up the mountain to the area known as Shivre Out. The road was clear and obviously well traveled, small torches lined the trail as he ascended up. The long journey took him a bit and it was mid-day by the time he reached the outer rim of the city. Upon entering he noticed a few men with weapons who were most likely part of the militia giving him questioning looks. Glaring back at them they immediately turned attention back to the road seemingly intimidated. Ha quite a strong willed militia indeed, no wonder they have problems.[/i] Trudging in Raito felt the thirst from his hike catching up to him and decided to find a tavern to rest in. No better place to find out interesting rumors than a tavern either so it killed two birds with one stone. As he entered into a small little establishment Raito sat down at the bar placing his sword up against the wood. Looking around the bunch that inhabited this place looked more like pirates than miners. Either way made little difference to him. In a corner though sat a small woman causing an interesting scene. Most of the bar's men were staring at the dainty thing as she downed entire tankards of alcohol. Now that was a seafaring woman if he had ever seen one. On top of that Raito analyzed her with his cold calculating eyes, she had both the look and scent of battle. It was no concern of his, but he had the feeling that watching out for that one would be a smart decision. Averting his gaze back to the barkeep Raito put a couple beri upon the counter.

"Flagon of ale, Im thirsty after that damn long path you guys have."[/b]

Grabbing the drink Raito turned around on his stool and sipped at it as he took in the new surroundings.

[Deleted]

Part of Jack was beginning to regret sitting in the corner, sure it was a little darker and she had hoped that would deter people from staring at her, but it was quite the opposite, they were looking harder than usual, that and it smelt of tobacco quite strongly, though she had no idea why. She kept her eyes to herself, watching others only as they entered or came closer to her. She had almost finished with her drink so she got the barkeeps attention, he nodded and soon enough walked on over with the iron tankard, he also leant in a little to say something quietly to her.
”Would you be interested in borrowing a jacket, these lecherous men can be a little rough.”
The white haired girl shook her head slowly and finished off her drink, ready to start the new one and looked the man in his eyes with her crimson hues, face as emotionless as it w=ever was.
”I can take care of myself, but thank you… I would like a bowl of blueberries though, if you have any, raspberries too.”[/color]
The man smiled, he had noticed how well built the girl was, she had more muscle than half the men in the establishment and also seemed quite pleased with her general manners, he wasn’t quite used to such since most, if not all customers in such a place were quite rowdy and rude.
”You‘re welcome, I‘ll have someone bring the food round in a moment.”
He then left with a smile, leaving the girl to her drinking again. The barkeep went into the back and returned a few moments later, having put her order in. Jack in the meantime had turned her attention to the last person who entered the tavern, a young male with a sword. He seemed interesting as other than her, he was the only one with a weapon, one that was on display at least and it got her to wondering about his intentions, was he planning to start a fight or rob the place? Such things were common place, Jack herself had taken part in a few bar room brawls but she’d never been able to get serious, was she now hoping that there would be a fight? Maybe so.
At that moment, as she was lost in thoughts of fighting, she hadn’t noticed a trio of large, heavily inebriated men coming toward her. They now towered over her in her sitting position, she glanced up at them for a moment then turned away, going back to her drink.
”Would you mind leaving me in peace?”[/color]
She chirped politely and took a sip from her drink, the men however just laughed. The biggest of them, he had a tatty black beard and many of his teeth missing, seemed to be their “leader” and he spoke up in response to her comment.
”Hey now, don‘t be like that, me and my friends here just wanted to invite you to a little party at our place.”[/color]
Jack rolled her eyes and turned to look at them again.
”Oh? To bad because I don‘t feel like going.”[/color]
The three laughed even more so and the bigger of them slammed his hand onto the table with a somewhat evil grin.
”Oh perhaps you didn‘t understand, the invite wasn‘t optional, you‘re coming wether you want to or not.”[/color]
Jack kept her cool and simply looked at the men, then turned away and had dome more of her drink, she finished about half of what she had left, then without looking back at them said.
”You think you can take me?”[/color]
At this point the entire bar had fallen silent, watching the events unfold, the bartender looking especially troubled, he wanted to intervene but didn’t want his face broken. Seemingly, Jack was all alone and she was pretty calm about it too. Would someone speak up before Jack got either whisked away or carried away in the trios brutal murders.
[/size][/font]

[nghtmr103]

Raito was sitting in the bar minding his own business, watching the comings and goings of the riff-raff. Seemed like it would be another somber day like the many he had at sea on the way here. These people seemed a bit rough but it was obvious none of them were stupid enough to mess with the man with the sword. That strange woman, however, was pounding down drinks like a true pirate. It had been a long time since he had seen anybody, especially a woman take in that much. Course she didn't have the look of a pirate which was a curiosity in itself. It was then an even interesting order came her way, wasn't often that you saw fresh fruit ordered in a dive bar. Stranger still it seemed the barkeep had some on hand. Raito might have to grab some himself as a luxury scarcely afforded to him. This was when he saw the response he had expected for awhile now. Thinking the woman was nice and drunk three big idiots stepped up to the slaughter. They stood tall above the tiny girl who seemed much less than intimidated by them than they probably had hoped. The room went pretty silent as everyone suspected a bad result from this situation. Raito was in agreement with these simpletons regarding the assumption. Of course it might be a nice little distraction after having nothing to fight for so long at sea. On top of this the ordeal might even turn out to be a profitable one at that. The drunkards started up a very lewd invitation to the young lady who instantly brushed them off continuing with her indulgences. When the brutes became more insistent the woman merely looked at them with a very brazen response. "You think you can take me?" Raito couldn't help but smile at this, he might actually start to like this chicks style. As the three goons and the woman were at a stand off Raito decided to speak up since the moment struck him.

"Oy, woman, if you don't want to deal with them just say the word. I must tell you though, chivalry doesn't put food in my stomach. Eh, I say 100 beli per head ought to do it if you wanted my services."[/b]

Picking up his sword with one hand Raito sneered at the men in question. He had just put prices on there heads and they were looking mighty fine for the killing at the moment. Sipping some more from his tankard Raito simply waited for the little lady's response.

[Deleted]

Jack sat strong, not intimidated in the slightest by the three men as they sneered at her, laughing under their breath as if the battle had already been won. The white haired girl though ignored them and began to get on with her drinking, that was until a voice came from the direction of the bar, the male who had recently came in spoke up. His words caused her to smile on the inside, not daring to show it outwardly though, her face was to remain stone as was her way. She glanced to the swordsman with her crimson eyes and speaking as if the three men weren’t even beside her said.
”Such a high bounty for those men, don‘t you think? No thanks anyway, I think I can handle these boys.“
The man behind the bar came over to the swordsman and leant over to speak to him, it was easy to tell by his voice that he was worried about the girl.
”Those men… they’re part of the Rock Dragon bandit… messing with them will get you killed, her too…”
He was clearly torn between what to do, he would never wish those men upon any lady yet at the same time, he didn’t want himself and his tavern wrecked by them. The three men had of course heard this being said and laughed smugly.
”You hear that girly? We are the Rock Dragon bandits, if you go against us we’ll kill you on the spot.”
”Again, if you think you can, do it.” She replied calmly.
”You‘re really pissin‘ me off girl, come on boys, grab her!”
The large man snarled angrily, frothing slightly at the mouth which caught in his beard. The two grunt made their moves as the larger man moved back, they moved so one was at either side of her and placed a hand each on her shoulders. Jack tensed up a little and closed her eyes, gulping down the rest of her drink in seconds and then standing up, the men tried to push her back down in an attempt to intimidate her, but were shocked to find their efforts in vein as they were easily out powered.
”I apologise in advance for the mess, sir, I’ll clean it up once I am done.”
Before you could even blink an eye, the girl had made her move, she elbowed one of the man square in the gut, causing him to receded backwards into a chair and tumbling over, coughing hard as he attempted to regain his breath. Her eyes then locked on the remaining man, still holding her shoulder, silently she brought her hand to his and took a hold of it, lifting it from her body, then, a sound that broke the silence, an almighty crunch followed by a high pitched scream of agony, the man had fallen to his knees, nursing franticly at his hand. She didn’t stop there though, with an strangely exaggerated pull back, the girl swung her leg and kicked the man with the broken hand powerfully in the face, this sent the man flying back into the nearby wall and the back of his head left a telling dent where it had hit. Jack turned to face the leader now, the large bearded man, but something was odd about her, she was wobbly, her arms drooped at her sides and she seemed to be struggling to stand as she swayed back and forth, side to side. Her eyes never breaking gaze from the bearded man. He looked more shocked than anyone at this point, but his pride would not allow him to back down.
”Looks like the drink has gotten the better of you, girl. You got lucky with those first hits but you will not triumph against me!”
Jack didn’t say a word, instead she stumbled backwards and tripped, falling to her knee, she used her hand on the nearby table to keep herself up. What on earth was the girl doing?

[nghtmr103]

Raito smiled at the woman's response, he had expected as much. Apparently the number he threw out was a little high for her taste as well. The barkeep leaned in and said in an almost stammering voice that they were part of the Rock Dragon Bandits. This peaked Raito's interest immediately since he had been reminiscing about his times on the island years ago as soon as he arrived. It might be an even more interesting situation that they had going on here than he thought. Raito simply waved his hand at the barkeep to dismiss the entire conversation.

"Don't even worry about it, I noticed that woman from the second I came in. Not just because she has a good body, but because I could sense another skilled fighter. Just sit back and enjoy the show is all the advice I have for you."[/b]

Raising his mug to the woman in a kind of "please proceed" type action he took another swig waiting for the fight to begin. The thugs decided to grab this girl by the shoulders and attempt to drag her away. This ended in a realization of how futile their efforts were. In a split second one of the bandits flew across the room crashing down onto the floor. The second wouldn't get off so lucky, his hand was forfeit for his impertinence. Taking a swift kick the injured scum went flying into the wall and was out cold. Raito chuckled at the idiocy of these wannabe criminals. They had no right to call themselves even bandits in his opinion. Then the oddest thing happened, it seemed Raito was wrong about her ability to drink like a real pirate. The girl stumbled and tried to regain her footing. Alcohol can get the better of most when abused, especially when abused at the wrong time and place.

"Girl whats the matter? Don't tell me your show is already over. You should really watch how much you drink."[/b]

Laughing a little at the sudden misfortune Raito decided there was not much left for him to do. This would have to be an I.O.U. from that chick. As the big lug that was left standing moved in on her Raito took one last swig from his drink and slammed it on the counter-top. Gripping his sword he dashed through the bar not even making a sound with his footfalls. The bandit wouldn't even know he was coming. Slashing through the overgrown pincushion's side Raito made multiple slashes on his new opponent before coming to a halt on the opposite side of this now bloody mess. Turning to face the man he had just cut open he saw as the blood burst forth in it's fury. Within the fountain of blood Raito merely stared and smiled his cold smile. This wasn't over yet, however, to his surpise the man was still standing albeit in no condition to fight.

"I see your not nearly as flimsy as the others, that won't save you though. I have met your little bandits before, in a past life with the Triumvirate pirates. In fact your might even recognize my sword, I took from a man named Lucien Persepolis before I drove it straight through his heart."[/b]

The bandits eyes opened wide at the site of the blade, he recognized it. As the man was getting ready to say something Raito struck. Driving the blade deep into his chest piercing the lungs that would have uttered whatever wretched things he was going to spew. Raito hated his prey to speak, taking their ability to do so was a thing he relished. Pushing the thug off his blade he shook the blood off to the side of him. Turning his gaze towards the tipsy woman there was nothing but a blank empty stare for her to look back into.

"I had previous business with the likes of him, just call it an I.O.U. for the future and I will be fine with it."[/b]

Walking back to his seat Raito put down his sword and went back to his drink. The bar was now a silent battlefield rather than the enjoyable dregs it had been before.

[Deleted]

Jack pushed herself back up to her feet and swayed calmly from side to side, despite everything her eyes remained focused on the man in front of her, almost as if she was baiting him, luring him into an attack that she could counter. Unfortunately though that would not be allowed to happen, The teen heard the male sat tat the bar make a comment on what she was doing, she wouldn’t have replied regardless but she did know what she was doing. Before she could make a move however, the male made an assault upon the larger male and cut him down where he stood, Jack stood silently and looked, her drunken state seeming to just melt right away. She straightened up herself and then looked at the swordsman.

”I don’t know what kind of grudge you have with these men, but you could have let me handle it.”

She then swiftly moved over to one of the guy, the one she winded and picked him up, she pointed at both the unconscious and the dead body and then looked into his eyes.

”Please help me out and move this trash, okay?”

Her voice sounded so sweet and sincere yet the man couldn’t help but shiver violently in fear, he quickly scrambled over to his friend and picked him up, slinging him over his shoulder, then quickly grabbed the large guy and dragged his corpse through and out of the tavern, at that point Jack shook her head and let out a yawn. She shuffled herself over to the bar and leant on it. She reached into her pocket and pulled out some money and counted through it quickly, then placed down a sizable amount in front of the taverns owner.

”That should cover the damage to your wall, sorry for the commotion. I‘m a little sleepy now so, could you also get me a barrel of rum?” Then she looked over to the sword wielding male. ”You are skilled, that much is obvious. Do me a favour and look out for this place for as long as you are hear.”

It didn’t take to long for the bar tender to return with a full barrel, he didn’t seem to mind selling a full barrel even if it was something not usually done. He also brought the berries she had ordered and handed them to her in a bag. She nodded to the man and took the barrel from him, lifting it to her shoulder as if it was nothing at all and then picking up the wrapped up berries, she gave a silent wave to the people in the bar and walked out of the building. Back In the tavern though, the bartender turned to the swordsman and sighed thoughtfully.

”hat girl is going to cause no end of trouble, I can feel it...”

[Sorry for the wait and the fact I left the thread >.< I have been feeling so crappy lately and I am needed in another thread which I have been waiting for almost a month D= So so sorry!]