Bad luck charm (closed, for Nouh-Bdee)

[Nouh_Bdee]

Bin chuckled at the girl’s defensiveness. “Really? Are you still old enough to drink even if it’s on the top shelf?”

Bin’rahl listened to the girl’s description of her dream. He was certainly better with animals than with people, but that didn’t say much. He was more curious about if they could identify this manor-lord, his supposed murderer.

“What about the house? Anything stand out? Any scenes of the outside?”

Bin’s next words were really him thinking out loud to himself more than continuing the conversation, but Rowen might not have been able to tell that.

“So, his dog was targeted for dogfighting. Maybe that’s a way we could find this man. If we find some nearby dogfighting ring, we could ask around and see if someone knows of someone who owns dogs that would be good in the ring…”

 

[Evayla]

Rowen actually huffed, stretching to make herself seem taller. It was a subconscious move, but it looked ridiculous. "Lemme add that I'm tall enough to twist yer nuts." She bit at him. Gods, all those people thinking height had anything to do with age! ANCIENT JOKE!

"House...lemme think...the mantlepiece, obviously. Dunno why but it stood out. But I only saw the insides. The ceiling was quite high though." She tried to remember. Then she eyed the red man suspiciously. "EY! No no no! Yer not gonna INVITE this guy to ask ya fer the job! No! We should definitely NOT find him! We should stay away from him! Tha's the whole bloody point of me tellin ya!"

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The girl was getting pretty worked up, but Bin still wanted to find out more about her dream, so he didn’t walk away just yet.

“Calm down, I’m just thinking that, if we find out who this man is, it will be that much easier to avoid him, right? We’ll know where not to go!”

Bin agreed with what he had just said, but what he hadn’t said was that he had a funny feeling about this man from the girl’s dream. He had plenty of experience with getting stiffed for odd jobs, and the worst he’d ever gotten for it was a beating. Every single human who had decided not to pay him for work knew that a half-demon had no chance of taking a human to court, and if he’d gotten violent he’d just get himself killed. He simply wasn’t worth the effort of killing. Not to them. All he could do was suck it up and make sure he didn’t take any more jobs from that person.

That made him wonder if there was something more nefarious at play, here. Something that might make his life even more dangerous than it already was. Some instinct told him he needed to know.

“Just think, alright?”

 

[Evayla]

Damn! Rowen felt called out. He was right. She was on edge about this. And rightly so!

But...he was right. She sighed. That stupid dream had been over two years ago. Why she still remembered at all? Probably because of how Bin looked. Silly, unfair perhaps, but true...and in this case unexpectedly useful.

"Well shit, how am I gonna remember..." She mumbled, more annoyed at herself now than at him. She had given him the basics, technically enough to avoid this situation, but...now the girl felt she was failing him on not being able to answer his specifics!

Hateful.

"Im thinkin, I'm thinkin..." Rowen looked up at the man. He was still at the spot near the tree, sharing a root, it seemed. Ah well, if he wanted to take her down, he'd manage anyway. Thinking was easier when sitting down. She dropped on the ground, crossing her legs again, her elbows on her knees.

It wasn't easy trying to relax and think back with that big red towering near the tree.

Something with that guy's face...the black hair, the black beard...no, not Bin...the noble kinda guy. There was...more black than that. But she couldn't pinpoint it other than a vague feeling. "There was lotsa black." Oh wow, that sounded so useless! She had to do better!

A frown appeared on her forehead, chin resting on her fists now. "I dunno, I can't explain it. Lotsa black in his face. He wasn't...I mean his skin wasn't. But just...damnit! That whole guy oozed black!"

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Bin felt a little bad. The girl seemed to really be wracking her brain. Either way, it didn’t seem like he was going to get anywhere waiting for her to remember her dream.

“Hey, kid, thanks for trying. I think I’ve got enough of an idea to go on.”

He would ask around about nearby dogfighting rings. First, though, he needed at least a night or two out in the wild, away from people, just to recover. The red-skinned half-demon took a moment to adjust his armor, since he’d left the blacksmith in such a hurry, pulling straps and fastening buckles. He did the same thing to his pack, bow, quiver, and the sheathe for his sword.

Once he was done, he started walking out of the small copse of trees, away from the city. He was looking forward to having fresh food for the first time in days. His jerky was good, and he could live off it indefinitely if he had to, but he missed fresh meat and vegetables.

One thing he didn’t do was say anything to Rowen as he left. He just didn’t feel the need. He’d thanked her already, and as far as he was concerned, she’d done her job. It was on him now.

 

[Evayla]

Kid. He called her kid again! Rowen glared up at the man, but it seemed he was woefully unimpressed and quite ready to leave.

She got up on her feet again, dusting herself off. While Bin was busy, she took a good look at his gear. It could never hurt to know what someone had in weaponry or defenses.
Just in case.
The world was a funny place after all.

"Sooo..." Yet there was no 'so'. After all his talk about them perhaps finding this black man?
Poof.
Off he went.
Without a word.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Fiiine...bye." Quickly she shouted after him: "I'll be at the stablemasters if ya find yerself in dog shit!"

Muttering she returned to the city, hoping her very long break would be forgiven.

The following days were filled with hard work and restless nights. Now that she'd seen the red man her mind could not put this odd chapter aside. He was rude! He was an asshole! Why did she care whether he lived or died?
And yet she did.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

It was a huge relief for Bin to be back out in the wild, camping under the stars. He took a day or two to replenish his supplies with hunting, trapping, and gathering, before he decided to get more serious about investigating this dogfighting ring. The first step was finding out what city it was even in.

He knew a kobold who occasionally dealt in the more...illicit aspects of society, and he lived on the outskirts of Terem, a small village just north of Alkor. It took Bin an afternoon to make his way through the woods to the far side of Terem, to a surprisingly large cave tucked into the bottom of a limestone ridge. The outside of the cave looked primitive, but the interior had a raised floor to keep out insects and water, and a plush carpet under a handmade wooden desk. Inside was Veruk Greyclaw, his green reptilian skin looking gray in the warm lantern light.

“Bin’rahl, I thought you didn’t want anything to do with me or my business.”

His smug face grated on the half-demon, but he didn’t exactly have a snappy retort. He stepped inside and leaned against the side of a low table. “I need information, Veruk.”

The short, scaly man leaned back in his chair. “No ‘hello’, ‘how are you’?”

Bin didn’t feel like bantering back and forth. “Dogfighting. I need to know how to infiltrate the dogfighting ring in Volutia.” Volutia was a city about four day’s ride northeast.

Veruk looked confused. “Volutia? You mean Luftig. And why should I do anything for you, Bin’rahl?”

Bin smiled to himself. “You’re right, Veruk. See you later.”

The half-demon just walked out before he heard the kobold yell “Shit” behind him. Unfortunately, Luftig was too far away to walk. It would take months. Even riding, it would take a little over a week to make the trip, and Bin didn’t have a horse. As soon as he realized the closest place to buy a horse was the Alkor stables, he groaned out loud, scaring a nearby squirrel.







Two days later he walked into the stables in Alkor with his hood up.

 

[Evayla]

The work was hard, but fair enough. At some point the other stableboys figured out they might have a girl in their midst, which lead to a little confusion and perhaps a set of twisted balls before they would just let her do here job.

Grumbling Rowen went through her chores. It sucked having to watch her back now, but she really could not afford to loose this job. There weren't that many places where she could hide at will if perchance her father figured out where she'd gone.
If he cared at all.

Another possible customer came into the stables and she straightened her back. Not that she was allowed to make any sales, but she'd have to make sure to show them the right horses and not those stalled here for travellers.

"G'day...gods it's you!" Alright, now that was a surprise. "Whatcha doin here?" Not directly hostile, but she did not exactly feel like she was meeting up with an old friend here. "Need a horsey?"

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Bin was...dustier than the last time she’d seen him. He may have had a bit more of an odor to him, as well, since he hadn’t had a bath in three days. If she noticed it at all, though, Rowen would notice that it wasn’t the same aroma that unbathed humans had, but a spicier, smokier scent, not altogether unpleasant.

His armor was the same: a chainmail shirt over rugged leathers. He still had his sword on his hip and his bow and quiver over his shoulder, but the pack that had been nearly empty before sat high on his back, stuffed full of potatoes, mushrooms, onion, garlic, a lot of jerky from various animals, and even some berries that Bin’rahl had dried himself.

She would also recognize his expression: that grumpy frown that told her he didn’t like being here any more than she liked seeing him. When he spoke, his voice would communicate his displeasure even more effectively.

“I do. I’m leaving town. I’d like to buy the cheapest horse that won’t die halfway there.”

 

[Evayla]

The dust did not exactly surprise the girl. The smell was odd, though. The garlic in his bag was possibly more pungent than the red man himself. That smokiness...was odd.
Kinda nice.

Now why would she pay any attention to that?
Rowen shook her head. "Cheapest without dyin? Guess ya didn't find any dog fighters then." Again she was torn between wanting him as far away as possible and wanting to keep an eye on the situation.
It was highly annoying!

"Alright, so...horseys fer sale are on the l...uh...right side. " Left and right, such an issue! Maybe it was because she was left handed herself, but it always screwed her brain up. She pointed, just to make sure she sent him to the correct side. "I ain't allowed to sell em, though, so I gotta grab the stablemaster fer that. Have a looksie, yea?"

With that she darted off. It wasn't far, just through one of the doors to see if the man was having lunch or not. "Ey, mister! Horse buyer in the stables. I sent him to have a look, but...heh...gonna need yer presence."

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Bin rolled his black eyes when Rowen mentioned the dogfighting. “Oh, I forgot all about them. I’m spending what little coin I have on a horse just for kicks,” he said sarcastically.

Then he walked over to where Rowen had pointed to look at the horses. There were actually some impressive beasts here, but Bin was sure he wouldn’t be able to afford one of them.





The stablemaster looked up at the annoying girl who had barged into his office. He was about to berate her when he realized she’d mentioned a buyer. A buyer meant more coin, and more coin was a very good thing to the large, round man.

“Ay! I’ll deal wi’ thissun, then! You muck out da boarders, eh?”

He tossed a shovel in her direction and walked into the For Sale area of the stables. He saw a tall man in a hood, and walked up behind with his best selling voice.

“‘Ello, sir! I tink ye’ll find we ‘ave wot you need, ‘n’ at rock-bottom prices. Wot’re ye lookin’ for, then?”

Bin turned around, and he knew as soon as he saw the look of shock and rage on the man’s face that this was not going to go well.

“Oi! Wot ye take me for, eh? ‘Is ‘ere’s a fam’ly estab’shment!” His voice was so loud, some of the horses were getting spooked. “We don’t serve devils in ‘ere! See! Ye’re scarin’ da merch’ndise!” He stomped his heavy boots, sending up a cloud of dirt and who-knows-what. “Get out!”

Demon, Bin wanted to say, Fucker can’t even tell demons and devils apart…

 

[Evayla]

Rowen saw that face.
Apparently the stableboys had complained about her.
Figured.
They didn't get what they wanted, so they tried to dump her. Phah! But it seemed the magic word here was 'buyer'. Maybe luck was smiling?

She grinned and caught the shovel. "Aye sir." Rowen nodded and went back with him to get to work.

Right that moment luck went flying out of the window.
Her boss went nuts! Devils? FAMILY establishment? Since when? Almost she laughed, were it not for the very real shock on the guy's face.

He's fer real? Oh wow, this ain't gonna end well.

"Ey!" She intervened, physically stepping between them with the shovel still in her hands. "Boss, come on. He's just wantin to buy a horse! The only one spittin fire right now is you! He ain't done wrong, ey?"

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The big man wheeled on the short young woman. “Yoo! Ye let dis ting in ‘ere, thinkin’ it could buy from uz?”

He was getting almost as red in the face as Bin, his fist pounding the empty air.

“Firs’ ye sow disrupshun amonst da stableboys, an’ den ye let in a cursed, thievin’ devil! Ye’re fired, girlie! Bote uh ya! Out!”

Bin felt bad that he was the cause of the girl losing her job, especially since she was sticking up for him. There was nothing he could do, though. He started making his way out of the stables, keeping an eye on the girl to make sure her former boss wasn’t about to get violent.

 

[Evayla]

Rowen flushed. "Ya friggin asshole." She mumbled, then spoke up louder. "DISRUPTIN? Me? They started! I can't help them not bein able to handle a gal swipin em! An he ain't no THING, alright? AN he ain't thievin! If anythin, YER the thief! With yer friggin holdin back coins of the tips we get! Bah! Go shovel yer own shit!"

She threw the shovel at his feet with force, pissed off beyond belief. The girl turned to stomp out of the stables.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Bin slipped out before the stablemaster could turn his ire back toward him, stepping quickly to catch up to the angry young woman. “I’m sorry.”

He didn’t want to feel any responsibility for her. He didn’t want to have any reason to stay in Alkor a moment longer. He didn’t want to develop an acquaintance with a human, of all people. Oh, he knew they weren’t all hateful bigots, and he was pretty sure this one wasn’t, but humans hung around other humans, and that increased his odds of running into one of said bigots, so he generally kept his distance.

Still, he found himself apologizing to her, and worrying about what she was going to do now. “What are you going to do now?”

 

[Evayla]

Rowen was cursing under her breath. This was a set back.
A major set back.
Unexpected too for the man to be so short sighted when he worked near the gates of a big city where all kinds of people came in!

Even more unexpected was the apology from Bin. "Not yer damn fault." She grumbled. "Asshole woulda found a reason. Damn guys in there were pissed off enough to already complain about me, heh. Well, TOUGH nuts!"

She was not quite as uncaring about it as she seemed. This meant being without money. Without an income. And without coin she might either be thrown out of town or into jail for being a vagabond! Damn cities and their rules.

"Yea, good question...I need to find another job, fast. Feck." She kicked an innocent pebble out of the way. "An yer gonna have to walk to wherever ya were goin...unless we find ya a less STUPID salesman..."

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Bin grumbled. She was right. They were both out of luck after the stablemaster’s ignorance. Maybe there was some way they could help each other.

She would be able to hear the reluctance in his voice, with his guilt driving him to make an offer he wouldn’t otherwise consider. He didn’t want to tangle himself up with this girl any more than he had already. Things went better when he didn’t really have any connections.

“I, uh…” He pulled out a couple of gold coins from his pouch. It wasn’t money he wanted to spend. “If you want, I could hire you to find me a horse. Maybe even a little extra if you find one for cheap?”

He wasn’t sure what he hoped she would say. He needed the horse, but if she wanted to just go her separate way, that suited him just fine.

 

[Evayla]

Rowen was not quite sure if she should feel relieved or saddened by his offer. It was nice, actually, unexpectedly so after his asshole-attitude. But the fact that he probably would not get a horse unless she got him one, was just sad.

A pretty nasty world they were walking around in.

His hesitance and the way he had handled himself in the stables told her enough about his monetary situation, though.

Tricky.
Very tricky.
Save herself the trouble and just accept the damn money or find another solution?

"I'll find a a horse. Err..." The girl looked him up and down. "No offense but...does it need to be able to carry extra weight? Yer kinda....heavy? Or was that just from my point of view when ya SAT on me?"

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Bin’rahl raised an eyebrow at the young woman. He was clearly not so heavy that a horse couldn’t carry his weight. Wait. Was she asking about it because she thought she was coming with him? No. No way. He stopped in the road and pointed his finger at the petite woman.

“Whoa. Let’s get one thing clear. I’m going alone.” He slapped his chest. “I don’t care what you dreamed about these dogfighting crooks. I’m going after them by myself.” He raised his eyebrows, silently asking if she understood. “I don’t travel with baggage.”

 

[Evayla]

And here people said she was the anti-social one...

Rowen sighed, just short of rolling her eyes. She gave up on this guy. He was too pig headed and definitely too strong to fight. He wanted to find the very person she told him to stay away from?
Fine.
His choice.

Then the man added that last comment.
Baggage.

Rowen tensed.
Baggage.
Unwanted burden.
She could hear her father in those words.

Her fists clenched.

"Dontcha worry." She replied coolly. "I'll be outta yer hair. Noooo worries. I'll get ya yer damn horse so ya can get FAR away from the creepy gal who tries to do ya a favour. NO GODDAMN WORRIES."

Alright, so she lost her cool.

With that she sprinted off, not caring about the fact they had not agreed on any place to meet. He could stay there in the middle of the road for all she cared. It would serve him right too if he'd have to stay there if he wanted a horse!

About an hour and a half later the girl walked the streets with an acceptable horse behaving nicely on its reins. The grin on her face was smug. Who'd have thought her total bluff about the stablemaster turned out to be true? Well, she would not tell his wife about it.
She promised.
Besides, she had no clue what she should tell the wife cause she'd been making things up on the fly.
It saved her a good amount of coin.

Rowen looked around for Bin, wanting to get this over and done with, when she suddenly spotted another familiar face.
Quickly the girl tried to hide behind the horse, but to no avail.

"ROWEN!" The voice of her father bellowed over the crowd.

The girl winced.

"You come here, RIGHT now, young lady!" The man breezed, one hand going over his beard. "You have some explaining to do."

She felt her legs freeze up. "Ain't got nothin left to explain." She mumbled, not able to look the older man in the eyes.

"All the more easy. You're coming home. Now."

"No." Rowen shook her head. No, she was not going back to that house where she'd be downgraded to a possession again.

"Well, I'll be..." The man stepped in, making a grab for her arm. "You will feel the whip for that. Come. NOW."

The whole world seemed to shrink to just that tiny bubble around her and her father. The rest did not exist anymore in her hyperfocus.

"You wanted me gone, I'm gone! Make up your mind!" Rowen exploded, roughly pulling herself free from his grasp.

"I wanted you taken care of, Rowen. You know that very well. No father would let their daughter walk the streets like some...some..." He looked her up and down. "Street rat."

"Damn rats get more respect than me." She mumbled.

It earned her a firm slap in her face. The girl brought a hand to her cheek. He hit her? Here? Out in the streets?
But of course no one would respond. She was a girl. He was her father. He had the right to do anything he wanted.

"Look, dad, I'm...I got a job, right? I'm earning my own keep. Why won't you accept that?" There was a pleading tone to her voice now. As aggressive as she could be with others, with her own father it was a different story.

"A job, hm? Like the one you just got fired from? Oh yes, don't give me that look. Don't you think I checked the stables first? I know you, Rowen. I know your every step. You...have nothing. You are nothing. I am your last chance to make something of your life." The chill in his eyes brought goosebumps to her skin.

Nothing.
Baggage.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Bin stuck around, even though he was fairly sure the girl wasn’t coming back. He stepped off the street, though, hanging back in the shadows to avoid as much attention as he could. He was surprised, then, when not long after she left, the girl was walking back through the street leading a much better-looking horse than he’d expected to get away with. He was about to walk across the street to her when a man yelled out and she turned her head.

So, the annoying woman’s name is Rowen, huh? Not that I’ll need to remember that.

She spoke to the man, and whatever it was seemed to be getting heated. She shrunk away from him and mumbled something, and then he slapped her. Hard. Out in the middle of the street.

Bin was halfway there before he realized he was moving. The man didn’t seem like he was going to hit her again, so Bin just stood between the two of them, staring down the older man. He wasn’t trying to look threatening, but it was hard for him not to sometimes, with his armor and weapons, not to mention his large size and horns.

“I don’t know who you are, but you can’t just slap a defenseless little girl in the middle of the street.”

His voice was low but firm. He regretted getting involved almost instantly, though. He definitely wasn’t going to be able to come back to Alkor anymore.

 

[Evayla]

As soon as Bin spoke the man all but hissed. "A demon...I should have known. Of course you'd consort with demons." He glared at Rowen before looking back at Bin.

Although there was cautious fear in his eyes, there was more righteous fury than anything else. "You call her defenseless? You clearly do not know her! But then, you probably put her up to more killing, hm? Demon, phah!"

The man spit on the ground. "I can slap her all I want. I am her father. She is mine. And you...have no rights here on our territory! Try and attack me, spawn. Try it! The city will have your head!" Their was a vile edge to his voice.

Rowen's turn to glare at her father. For a moment it looked like she was going on the defense. Then the girl clenched her fists and shook her head. "And this is where we leave. I can take care of myself, dad. Don't need yer goddamn advice anymore!"

"You will burn in hell!" Her father sneered and made a grab for her past Bin. A silly move, really, one he could not possibly manage. Still Rowen jumped back as if burned already.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

She is mine? Seriously!? And these humans thought HE was the monster?

Bin stepped to the side, further blocking Rowen from the man’s grasp.

“You don’t own her! I don’t care who you are!” The half-demon stared down at the much shorter man. It was obvious where Rowen had gotten her height. “Go home, old man! She clearly doesn’t want to go with you!”

He turned back to the young woman over his shoulder. “Get on the horse, Rowen.”

 

[Evayla]

Instead of grabbing his daughter the man landed nose first against Bin's chest.
Yes, he was a lot shorter.

He jumped back with a gasp at the unexpected contact. Only now did he really look at the half demon in front of him.
His expression wavered.

Meanwhile Rowen was grabbing the chance Bin offered! With a quick move the girl got on the horse, her eyes darting back to the men facing off. This...was unexpected. But she was not going to ignore the open door!

"Fine!" The man tried to save face. "Fine! You will see! You will see the viper you are taking with you! The two of you deserve each other!"

No more move to try and get Rowen and certainly no move to get anywhere closer to Bin!

Rowen averted her eyes.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Bin could see passersby on the street paying them more attention, especially as from a distance it probably looked like their confrontation had gotten more physical than it had. He could see some of the less fit humans disappearing into nearby shops and homes, re-emerging with whatever large men they could find. Bin needed to leave right now.

He looked behind him as he stepped back from the short man, seeing Rowen sitting on the horse. Fortunately she was small enough that they would both fit on the saddle, so he quickly ran and jumped behind her on the horse’s back, spurring the creature into a trot. He reached around the small woman to grab the reins, steering the beast through the quickest path he knew to the city walls.

It wasn’t until they were under the gate and off at a faster gallop that he realized he was physically closer to a human than he’d ever been, except maybe a few days earlier when he’s sat on Rowen. He felt awkward, but there wasn’t time to do anything about it. A half-demon riding away from the city at speed was certainly suspicious, and he wanted to disappear before any of the guards decided to do anything about it.

Several miles later, they’re finally far enough away that Bin’rahl felt comfortable slowing to a stop. He hopped off the horse, but kept a hand on the reins. He looked up at Rowen, nodding grimly.

“Sorry about that.” He reached to his belt. “I can...I can take you back if you want.” He pulled out three gold coins and held them up to her with his off hand.