The Deal

The blackest of nights fell over the forests too close to Medius to be considered the north or the south. With the blackness, sheets of rain fell, drenching the entirety of the woodlands around. The thunder rumbled to the accompaniment of the singing poisonous frogs that hung like brooches from the young trees. The moss, grass, and vines were a carpet of green lit by the eerie sconces that were the mushrooms growing like fans on the snags lining the forest paths.

Above the shivering sound of the downpour and the cacophony of creature and storm, a shriek and a sob pierced the night: the lamentations of a woman as she felt death descend with a paralyzing pain. It was a simple spell. The man who carried her off like a sack of flour over his shoulder learned it long ago. In her mind, her flesh was being torn by a hundred invisible teeth, the teeth of Iskra's dead clan, perhaps. Though her body wasn't being physically harmed, her nerves told her differently, and soon she would succumb to the sensation.

By the time they arrived at their destination, a large and intimidating building that had survived the time before the Dawn, the man's burden struggled no more. It was fine. She would be revived in the morning after he'd had time to make accommodations.

For now, he needed to go about finding a decent room and making it reasonably comfortable for any patrons that came by.

He carelessly dumped the kidnapped woman on the floor and began looking for the stairs, carefully stepping over the sleeping forms of the various members of the thunderrat clan who were scattered and sleeping about.

[ EXP: 325 || +1 TEXP (2nd thread) ]

Iskra had one foot on the stairs when suddenly there came a tapping, like someone gently rapping... rapping at her business's door.

With a brief roll of his eyes, the man decided to answer the door. After all, it might be a customer. He stepped back over the unconscious rodents, and when he stepped over the unconscious girl he shifted back to the default form this entity used: a dark-skinned, spotty-haired woman.

And she opened the door to see the man from the week before standing there. Honestly, she hadn't expected him to simply show back up with the way she'd treated him last time.

"How's your behind feeling?" She asked with a brief tilt of her head.

"Ha ha, just kidding. Come on in, you're wet and stuff."

If his manner remained neutral, she would usher him inside out of the poor weather. After all, she bore him no ill will. He'd given her a great time, and she didn't doubt that if he became annoying again she could dispatch him and use his skin to patch one of the holes in the building. They were drafty whenever the mud and straw they'd originally been patched with fell away.

[ EXP: 229 || +1 TEXP (5th post) ]

"So..." she began once the hybrid was inside, continuing to usher him until they came to a toppled turntable that functioned perfectly as a seat. She sat before she continued, propping her head up on one arm. "What brings you here in this weather? I'm sure you must have something to say."

She didn't leave much space for any further words. "Unless you want me as your alpha? The one ranked above you? Makes perfect sense. After all, I did display dominance over you. Well, I don't just accept anyone into my clan," she lied. "You have to prove yourself worthy. You see that?"

She pointed towards the woman, still collapsed by the door and cold. "I'm going to sell those as part of my larger life goal. I'll need someone to guard the livestock when I get them, but for now I need help collecting them."

With a sharp kick, she awoke one of the nearby rodents. "Hey, get me the map."

The creature complied quickly, as though some dreaded penalty awaited it if it didn't.

Once the map arrived, Iskra spread it out over the seat. "You see this here?" she said, pointing to a pawprint slightly north of an X. "This is the Village of the Earth. It's a pretty big place and it's guarded by a large, wooden fence. Do you think it'll be too hard for you to get me another one of those things by the door?"

[ EXP: 264 ]

The woman plainly swatted his hand out of the way when Yuki reached for her chin. "None of that," she said plainly, gruffly. "It's a job you want? Ah, good that you explained yourself."

She stood, curling the map up as she went. "I was about to tell you to get out, then. I don't really let people in here much, but you are here about commerce?" She tilted her head to the side. "Honestly, I don't think you'd do that bad as someone to actually service the clients, but..." She put her hand on her chin, looking down and studying the man briefly. "...I don't guess you actually had fun?"

Her mind briefly went back to that small romp that they had in the woods. "You were screaming pretty loud. I'm sure I heard a note of... enjoyment somewhere in there, didn't I? Of course, it's partially my fault for being so rough, but you seemed like you were trying to get away."

[ EXP: 176 ]

Iskra rolled her eyes once. "Really? I let you live and come into my place and this is how you repay me?"

The woman mumbled and sighed. It was a quickly murmured spell, one that would, if it worked, put Yuki back under the spell that was originally responsible for his rape. Rather, it would turn him into a female as well so he couldn't make such irksome suggestions.

However, Iskra didn't turn herself male. She simply wished to see if an alteration of his form would give him the hint he needed. "That form would be better for a kidnapping anyways. Everyone's suspicious of strange men out in the rain... at least all the humans I've met would be."

[ EXP: 135 ]

With another smooth gesture, Iskra swatted away his hand, this time harshly, as though it were some recurring, particularly irksome mosquito. "My name is Iskra. I guess maybe I haven't mentioned it, Stranger?" she laughed briefly. It might seem a neurotic gesture on the part of a normal human, but considering the sort of demon she was, the noise was to express a humble "pleased to meet your acquaintance".

Now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember the woman before her's name, possibly because it wasn't important, but the more likely explanation was that she had never bothered to ask. Since they were exchanging pleasantries, she figured it wouldn't hurt to call the stranger something other than Stranger. "I don't believe you ever told me your name. I assigned you one in my head, but if you want to be around here I guess I should know your handle a little better."

Politeness was never one of her strong suites, at least as far as human politeness was concerned. Among her own kind she exhibited flawless etiquette and respect for her superiors. It seemed she'd put herself in a world without superiors these days. She was all alone... her and the thunder rats... in this huge, soulless building.

Her thoughts turned to something other than her own loneliness. Dwelling on the lack of company never made anything better.

[ EXP: 277 || +1 TEXP (1st post) ]

Iskra leaned casually backwards, letting her elbows prop her up on another toppled turntable behind them. "Payment, Yuki?" she grinned. "Sure, I'll change you back no problem. Takes a lot of energy to keep you as a woman, after all... but about this payment..." she stroked her chin. "I'll be perfectly happy to pay you, I guess. People have to eat, and I've got plenty to pay you with. I tell you what." The woman leaned forward, pressing her open fingers together so they formed an upside-down tent. "I managed to acquire a pregnant goat. She's recently given birth to a little goat, so she's got plenty of milk for the time being. Very nourishing stuff, too. Much better for washing down bread or any number of your human foods than water is. I'll trade you a whole bucket of her milk for a woman from the Earth village. It's got to look like one who would make my future patrons very happy." A carnivorous smile stretched across the demon's visage. "Do we have a deal?"

[ EXP: 203 ]

Iskra leaned back and rubbed her temples, her eyes closed for a moment and her eyebrows knitted in slight frustration. "Five buckets of milk, then. Honestly, you can go to any village south of here and trade it in for something else, if that's what you desire. I have a patron who regularly traded five buckets of milk for a steel fence section from the blacksmith. It took seitse* pounds of metal to make a fence, and it takes seitse pounds of metal to make an armor or a sword. What I mean to say is that five buckets of milk is a pretty good deal for a simple woman that I could theoretically fetch myself, except I know I need to learn to start giving tasks to my underling." She opened her eyes, her gaze steely and her voice gentle, but stern. "If your work is good this time, you will find many more lucrative assignments from me in your future. Consider this task an investment. Do we have a deal?"

[ EXP: 241 || +1 TEXP (2nd post) ]

* "Many." Literally means a higher number than Iskra learned to count to as a hyena. Unlike the word "many", however, it's used as an exact number, since it represents a point beyond which precision matters in her mind, much like "infinity" is considered an exact number.

"Great."

The woman smiled toothily and stood to her feet, giving the other woman a firm pat on the back. By "firm", one could picture the firm smack one might give a 400 lb. boulder to move it. Though the gesture was friendly, it was very, very forceful.

"I don't think you'll need my help in the matter, but if you really need it, I might accompany you to see how you do at first. It's because you've proven yourself sort of weak relative to me." She stroked her chin. "I've no doubt of your skills, but I want to see them in action. If I like the way you do things, that will make me want to give you jobs more often. I mean, what are we looking at? If I want to have a full-service brothel here, I'm going to need lots and lots of women."

Iskra sat back down. "Or would you prefer to go by yourself? I'd understand. You'd probably go faster without me looking so hard at your every move. Performance under pressure I guess is a little bit harder. It's your choice."

[ EXP: 202 ]

Once again, Iskra was on her feet, beckoning for the white-haired one to follow. "No problem. There's all kinds of clothes in here. Follow me"

Her path would take her up a makeshift spiral staircase that the thunder rat clan had erected in the former elevator shaft. She didn't pause until they were several stories up. There was a vast atrium up there that was now eerily dark save for the faint glow of a number of candles all scattered around, messily marking the personal domain of some of the higher-ranked members of the rodent village.

A large stage that the elder occasionally gave speeches from that, in days long past, hosted bands rocking the building with bass beneath the flashing glow of colored lights. Behind this was an ancient dressing room that, since it already had clothes in it, the rats had seen fit to stuff into it all of the clothes from all the corpses scattered about around the time of the dawn.

The demon kicked the door open. A weak lantern illuminated the clothes. "Take your pick."

[ EXP: 210 || +1 TEXP (5th post) ]

Iskra yawned before plopping down on a nearby pile of clothes that had been tossed unceremoniously by the door. "Take your time," she murmured disinterestedly.

Initially, the demon thought that she wouldn't do much of anything until the other woman had picked out some clothes, but then she realized that the interior was very, very dim. Thus, she raised herself back up and dusted herself off. There was a small, wooden device, what was once known as a hanger in the bygone age, and it supported a moth eaten shirt that wouldn't do anyone any good. She tossed it on the pile she'd just stood up from and walked over to the lone lit candle in the room.

The edge of the hanger caught on fire, and she looked at the conflagration with interest. Fire was a scary thing to her, but it was like a little miracle on the end of that stick. Slowly, she walked around the room, lighting one candle, then another until the room was bright enough to actually discern the color of the various dresses, skirts, shirts, ties, and various other articles. "Better?" she asked Yuki.

[ EXP: 218 ]

"Just put something on," Iskra grumbled, rolling her eyes. Both of the outfits looked equally ugly to her. It would be deception for her to say that one looked nicer than the other. "Whatever you think will be less of a hindrance to your mission."

It seemed a simple enough action, but the nature of it was indecisive in a small way. Honestly, that's what Iskra didn't like in a potential mercenary. Indecisiveness. It made for less efficient dealings.

"It's good that you ask my advice, but I'm not in a good position to tell you. You'd know more about what's normal for a human to wear than me."

[ EXP: 128 ]

Iskra didn't look directly at Yuki as she began to undress, nor did she necessarily look away. The other was no more or less interesting than a potted plant in a corner at the moment. Namely, though Earth village was the closest one to her at the moment, she recalled the tales that the thunder rats had brought back to her from their various scurrying about. The Village of the Earth had a very large wall all around it, and she didn't feel like having another person to deal with while trying to figure out a way around the wall. If he fell, he might squeal on her and reveal the location of her home to the prejudiced humans, and she didn't want that.

No, they'd have to go someplace a bit further away. She did recall a certain young warrior who attacked and fought her with little provocation... rather, she remembered it that way. In truth, the young man had merely been approaching her to talk to her and she simply misinterpreted his advances.

"You mind walking a bit longer than usual? We could make this a roadtrip. I don't think Earth Village will be the best spot, even though it's the closest. They've got that... wall... thing..." Her nose wrinkled. "Have you heard of Mare Maris?"

[ EXP: 242 || +1 TEXP (2nd thread) ]

Iskra was thus given very little motivation to pursue her course in antagonizing the Village of the Earth. After all, her treatment by the weak and petty humans in Mare Maris was practically an invitation for further enmity between her and the coast-living people. There were no walls to guard them, only their own sort of social network that might tell them if a person went missing.

But such a thing could only travel with the speed and accuracy of human memory and speech. She had little doubt that she could escape without being caught by the likes of the dull, lazy inhabitants of a rich, seaside paradise.

"It's settled then. We will be going there. The journey is considerably longer, though." Her brow furrowed as she thought on the distance. Honestly, it had been a long time ago, back when she was still searching for Jack's seed, and she'd settled a very long ways from the coast. There wasn't really anybody to defend her claim and her... subjects, for lack of a better word, in her absence.

Yet, the little rodents had come this far with very little interference other than what apparently came from Mumm-Rat. They'd be okay for a few days on their own. She made a note that she'd have to hire a guard to protect her little spot in her absence. As annoying as her neighbors were, as a social animal, she'd grown attached to them.

[ EXP: 273 ]

Iskra answered without much hesitation. "We'll be walking part of the journey, but there are routes well-traveled by merchants on their way to the village of Medius. It will be a simple matter to simply hijack one and let it carry us across the rest of the way. The creatures pulling the wagon can be our meal when we arrive, and we'll get quite a few goods out of the deal."

Her mind already began to plot a short course of wickedness that would culminate in their short raid on Mare Maris. "We'll need a wagon back, of course. I think we can get one much the same way. There are a bunch of merchants in the village. I don't know how many of them have carts, but plenty of them will have nourishing fish for our journey back. Then you can receive your payment, and we can part ways until I have another job for you."

The plan seemed simple enough. It was just a matter of executing it. "Since we're going so much farther, we can take a short rest tonight and we'll depart before sunrise tomorrow."

[ EXP: 206 || +1 TEXP (5th post) ]

Iskra thought for a minute about whether or not to leave him in that form.

It wasn't long before she decided that keeping him in the female form for now would be more trouble than it was worth.

So she waved her hand dismissively. "You can change back whenever you're ready. I released the spell. I'd suggest that you change out of those clothes first, though. Wouldn't want them to tear."

She began to walk out of the room, speaking as she went.

"Sleep wherever you want, just don't bother anyone. Put out the lights when you're done for the night."

[ EXP: 177 || +1 TEXP (2nd thread) ]