Is He Your Man Or Isn't He?

Subject: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:17 pm

Precious little in her life was certain, but when she'd gotten pregnant, that precious little dwindled to almost nothing. She could usually survive on scraps of meat, sharing what little she could hunt with her Dog. Bird usually found its own meals. When she got pregnant, though, her need was doubled (actually tripled but she hadn't known until she gave birth). She had considered drinking the herbal mixture that would terminate her pregnancy, but when she went to do so, she found her supply gone. She was so sure that she'd had some, but... she could only hate the father. Surely he'd taken the supply, knowing how she was. She'd let him into her heart, and he was gone too, left her with two little burdens she was so sure she couldn't look after.

But she'd damn well try.

And that was how she (briefly) met Armeno.

If ever there was the wrong man to try and rob, it was him. Or rather, the caravan he was attached to. It was a temporary job, because apparently he'd been traveling the same way and decided to lend a hand to defense. She'd been just one thief. Had lamed a guard and would have made out with what she needed if he hadn't interfered.

She'd hated him, wanted to gut him, but he'd shown restraint and had gotten her reasons out of her. He could be cold, and the coldness had scared it right out of her. She used to be tougher, but she had children now. Told him as much and he'd followed her back to her den (had her tied, embarrassingly enough). She was afraid he'd slay her children too, but the suggestion merely disgusted him.

In the end, she and her babies became part of the caravan (and she had to work for the tavern owner to repay him for hurting a guard and stealing his produce).

So there she was, working tables, her children being mothered by the tavern owner's portly wife. She cleaned up well. Her red hair, brushed and washed, was actually quite beautiful and framed her face well, settling upon her shoulders and down her back, subject to a little tug from handsier customers every now and then. She had no figure, though. Skinny as a board the tavern owner's wife had said. She had a small waist and long legs, though, tall for a woman. The corset she wore gave the illusion that she had breasts and curves, and the skirts she wore was always subject to someone's rather curious hand. She wore slippers and was grateful for them (for sometimes the girls that went barefoot got splinters).

She set down a round of ale for a table of some rowdy men and made her rounds picking up glasses when she noticed a woman staring her down. She thought to go engage her, but decided not to and flirted with a patron to get him to buy something else. Bat those blue eyes, Bishop, honey, because you owe my husband much and more.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:39 pm

The fact that the woman hadn’t harmed Armeno made no difference to Kassandra. She had wanted to cause him harm, and that was enough for her to be really unimpressed. Well, now she had ended up in the same tavern (not completely by accident, she had managed to get most of the story of the red-haired woman out of Armeno… eventually), and couldn’t stop herself from staring. This tall scrappy thing was the woman who had wounded a guard and tried to take on the elf? Kassandra herself wasn’t much to look at either, but she was sure she had a little more muscle on her than this. It was an angry sort of stare, a ‘get off my patch’ stare, nose crinkled up in irritation.

Eventually, she had had enough. She would have thought someone watching the woman would have given her a few shivers after a time, but apparently not, as she worked her way around the bar.

Pfft, bar work, what a lowly thing to be doing. She wasn’t normally judgemental, but when it came to this one… She suddenly rose to her feet, tugging at her cloak so that it didn’t get caught over the chair and pull it over. Dressed in forest green and dark black, she didn’t exactly blend in to the rest of the tavern folk, but that didn’t bother her for now. She had business to attend to.

Marching over to the red-haired woman, she folded her arms and looked up (that was a new one, normally she was the tall woman around). “You. You’re the one who attacked that caravan, weren’t you.” Her tone was blunt and accusing, she couldn’t help it. She had become quite…possessive.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:46 pm

Bishop gave the woman a passing glance. "Yes. You're not that guard's wife are you? I already gave him my first week's pay. His leg should be fine." And with that she continued from the bar to the table, setting down drinks and a plate of beef with a side of potatoes. "Enjoy boys, the beef's good." There was a chuckle and someone grabbed for her skirt, but she skipped away and headed back to the bar. At first she thought to just duck out once everyone was asleep, but she'd eaten good for the first time in a long time and her children were well taken care of.

The tavern owner's wife was really motherly, and although Bishop wasn't producing milk, she had a daughter that was, and the daughter didn't seem half bad. She'd thought people were animals, but these people didn't seem so bad.

Still, she didn't let her guard down. If she smelled anything shifty, she'd be out with her children in the dead of night. She'd disappear into the woods and range higher and farther.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:54 pm

Kassandra snorted under her breath in the most unladylike fashion at Bishop’s question. Really now. She narrowed her eyes, opening her mouth to reply, but the woman had already set off away through the tables, back to the bar. That was how they were going to play this game then, was it? She didn’t much like that idea. No, there was not going to be skirting round matters, not tonight.

She stepped forwards a few paces, then thought better of it, and just called after her instead. “No, whatever you’ve done to some other sod’s of no interest to me.” She knew this was going to draw attention, but screw it. She didn’t care what the other patrons of the bar thought, she just wanted to know what had gone on. “Whatever you did to Armeno though, oh, that’s a different matter.”

The elf liked to hide things that directly concerned him, insults, wounds or otherwise. If Bishop had harmed him in any way, then the best was of finding out about it was through the woman- even if she had to beat it out of her.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:00 pm

She turned and put her hands on her hips. The owner of the tavern didn't like any fighting in his bar, but she supposed catfights didn't count, because he made no move to tell the Lady shouting that there was no fighting in his tavern. It figured. Ah well, she supposed if things were to get heavy, she'd ask to take things outside.

"You mean the cute elf? I didn't do a thing to him. Had me on my back and was 'tween my legs before I had any sayso."

This received rip-roaring laughter from the drunker patrons.

"The only thing I did to him was call him a few unsavory names and wriggle a little. I'm sure he liked it."

Fuel to the fire, for the lesser patrons joined in the braying.

Bishop never did like to put her head down and apologize profusely. She wasn't that kind of girl, especially not how she was raised. Men liked a bawdy women every now and then, and she was as bawdy as they came. It made life easier for her. If you were meek and polite and demure, chances were you'd be taken advantage of and your innocence lost.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:11 pm

Kassandra felt herself prickling at the first mention of ‘cute’, but what came afterwards just tipped her over the edge. And the laughter.., well, once she was done with this hussy, she would teach the rest of them a thing or two, if they weren’t silenced first.

“You bitch!” she screeched, her face going red with anger and her fists balling at her sides. “You didn’t, you…you bitch.” She gritted her teeth together and marched across to the bar, kicking an empty chair out of the way once she reached the other woman, sending it crashing to the ground. Who cared about sticking to the tavern rules, she was angry now, disbelieving of what the woman was saying, but just furious that she even had the nerve to say such things. Armeno wouldn’t… She leant across the bar and grabbed a fistful of the girl’s shirt, pulling her close and growling into her face.

“Say that again, go on, I dare you. I don’t even need you to. Nobody says things like that about my Armeno.”

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:19 pm

She smiled down at the lady, covertly reaching for a glass. Ah, so it was going to be like that. "I said. He had me on my back and was 'tween me legs." And smashed a glass atop the woman's head, shoved her away, her blouse ripping because of the other woman's grip. She didn't care, for all it did was show the swells of her breasts, made to seem bigger with how the corset tried to press them flat. She didn't have much in the way of cleavage, but she'd learned that as long as you had some kind of teats, men weren't too picky about what they saw.

It was obviously a show now, the servers huddled at the bar, the patrons leaning out of their seats.

"Seems to me like you need a good plowing. Yer elf ignoring you? Maybe you should put that mouth to better use."

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:29 pm

Not expecting the sudden attack, Kassandra was completely taken aback by it, not even having time to cover her head with her hands, or an electrical shield. She stumbled back against a table, glass showering down to the ground as she picked herself up again, rubbing one arm across the back of her head, checking for blood before turning furiously to the redhead again.
“Red, by the time I am done with you, you’ll be lucky to get a man even look at you, let alone get a ‘good plowing’ yourself.”

She grabbed a glass off the table behind her, uncaring for whoever it belonged to, and threw it at the woman, sending a bolt of green electricity after it. They were playing unfairly? Fine then, she wasn’t going to hold back on her advantages. She wouldn’t have anyway, but she would have pushed the woman less to the edge before. Now, it was a whole different story.

Despite being better at long range attacks, she moved towards the bar again- she wanted to do this properly, not take her out at a distance.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:41 pm

Bishop ducked to avoid the glass and, through luck, that bolt of green. The thing exploded on the back wall, sending static out after it. Beer and glass showered behind the bar and there were some screams from the girls. Well lovely. A mage. Of apparent electricity. Some patrons scattered, others moved back and the servers huddled either under the bar or in the kitchen. She was pretty sure that if she would have been hit by that electricity, it would have been lights out for her. Narrowing her canted eyes she grabbed a knife from the counter, the kind lent out to patrons to cut their steak.

"You're an ass, wonder why you can't get a ride."

Threw the knife at her, and it was apparent that Bishop knew her way around them, for it didn't flip end over end to result in a chance that the point might not hit her.

Now, more than ever, she wished she had her bow. She would have feathered the bitch and been done with her.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:49 pm

With their fight, chaos ensued, but Kassandra didn’t care. Let there be chaos, more chance of catching the redhead off guard and getting in a shot. She didn’t bother with some amusing quip back, just throwing herself to the floor as a knife whistled towards her, embedding itself deep in a wall somewhere behind her. She didn’t turn to look- that was bad form- just pushed herself up to her feet again into a ready stance, one hand going to the strings of her cloak and dragging them loose. She didn’t need it there to choke her, if the woman got a hold of it, or tangle in her feet- or get dirty with blood.

Thankfully the only weapons that her opponent seemed to have were those found normally behind a bar, whereas she had a rather more useful arsenal of weapons. Steak knives were no match for a sword.

Moving carefully, she circled round towards the bar again, feeling her fingers twitch with anticipation for drawing more magic, until she was closer and let off another bolt, aiming for Red’s chest, this time.

“Scrawny bitch, who’d want a scrappy barmaid?”

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:56 pm

She ducked again and a spray of booze and glass told her the bolt hit the liquors stored on the lower shelves. She was aiming to kill was she? Bishop vaulted over the door, backing toward the exit. "You'd be surprised." Wanted to draw this outside because like it or not, this was her residence and her place of work. If she messed it up bad, chances were they'd kick her out. Unfortunately, she had no weapons, the bitch had caught her at work.

"If yer so insecure, per'aps you should be playin guard dog after yer pretty lil' elf man."

She snatched a knife from a patron's belt and was happy to see that it was definitely the kind for fighting. And one more time she'd be fighting someone with a sword. She was starting to really hate being caught unawares. This was twice that she couldn't prepare. Armeno had practically ghosted behind her, and she knew she deserved the fight that ensued, but this one was all for jealousy, and this crazy bitch was trying to kill her for words and wind.

"Crazy bitch," she murmured under her breath.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 9:06 pm

“I don’t even wanna know,” replied Kassandra, her voice a growl. Things were quickly getting messy, glass all over the floor, alcohol leaking everywhere. As much as she wanted to harm this barmaid, she didn’t want to also blow them all sky-high with some accidentally overcharged attack. Heading towards the doorway was probably a good plan. There were less people to hit, too- to those people that she didn’t hold this grudge against, she wished no harm, and wasn’t one normally for attacking people with little reason.

But insulting the one person she had trust in, trying to make her think that he had betrayed that to her, that was unforgivable.

She kept her distance as Red stepped around towards the door, taking the moment’s pause to draw her sword, before carefully stepping after her, tensing for some sort of surprise attack. It was the sort of thing she’d do, and a knife was much handier for a close attack than a sword was. But, far as she knew, Bishop was just an ordinary, magic-less human. Kassandra wouldn’t go so far as be confident, not at all, but she hoped that the unpredictableness of her magic would give her an edge.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 9:13 pm

Bishop was out the door and considered climbing up the tavern to get at her room and at her bow, but she figured that she'd be a sitting duck once the bitch got outside and started hurling her green bolts everywhere. She considered fleeing, but that wouldn't end things. That bitch would lurk the tavern and keep pestering her until she either killed her or got some kind of apology out of her. Or if I gave her a knife in the guts, she thought. She squatted and scooped some dirt into her hand and rose, adjusting her grip on the knife. She couldn't throw this one. It was her only weapon and knife or no, it was better to have than nothing at all against a mage with a sword.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 9:25 pm

Following quickly after the redhead once she’d left, so the gap for her to prepare some attack was left as short as possible, Kassandra kicked the door open and jumped outside too, waiting for her to be lurking right near the door. She had her sword ready though, gripped tightly in her hands in a bit of a defensive position. The ho had left her some room to move without stabbing her right there however, and she moved away from the crushing side of the inn, giving herself as much room to manoeuvre as possible. She didn’t want something against her back getting in the way.

Bending her knees a little, she made a couple of feints, just easing herself into using the longsword that she didn’t really like, but had anyway. It had to be the worst weapon to be using against a knife. Instead, she opted for magic again, firing a couple of bolts this time, slightly apart from one another, so that if she jumped sideways, she’d still get in a hit.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 9:30 pm

Being electrocuted was worse than being burned, Bishop decided and she gritted her teeth, waiting for an opening before she rushed her. Blocked with the knife and felt it jar down her arm. Her father would have been disappointed in her. That thought only made her clench her jaw tighter. Her father had taught her to be light on her feet, silent, quick, deadly. Here she was wearing a goddamn skirt and slinging ale. Here she was with only a knife and a handful of dirt and she thought she was overmatched. Oh her father would definitely have been disappointed.

She flung the dirt in the woman's face and dropped low, sweeping her legs.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 9:40 pm

Clumsily moving to block Red’s small blade with her much larger one, she let the blade take the small amount of energy Bishop had put into her attack before pushing into it, forcing aside her knife further, swordtip down towards the ground. It made it hard for an opponent to get in another speedy hit to the body, because they had to move twice as far to get their blade back into range again. How well it worked on a short blade, instead of another sword, was questionable however.

She pulled her own blade back into a defensive cross, trying to cover as much as her front as possible, but didn’t expect the handful of dirt in her eyes. Spitting mud and squeezing her eyes shut, she blinked quickly and forced her watering eyes open, feeling a sharp jolt behind her shins as Red kicked them away. She crashed to the ground, knocking her shoulders and feeling a tingle up her arms as she whacked her elbows on the ground. Stupid cow. Thinking fast, helpless on the ground for a few moments, she squeezed her eyes tightly again and lit up a bright white light, enough to cause the woman a fair bit of havoc if she got a look at it, scrambling to her feet and staggering, but managing to get her balance.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 9:55 pm

A small blade like the knife Bishop had was not heavy like a sword, and therefore much easier to get back in range. Fighting a knife with a sword was unfair to both sides. The sword had the most reach, but the knife had speed. It all depended on the ability of the fighters, and so far, Bishop had judged the woman to be better with her magic than she was at the sword. After seeing Armeno's ability, this woman looked like she was swinging around a pointy stick.

She would have jumped her once she was on her back, but the woman threw up a bright flash and Bishop reflexively threw an arm over her eyes. They watered and she saw nothing but spots when she opened them again. Blinking hard, she backpedaled, hoping the psychopath was still blinking dirt out of her eyes.

She swiped the knife out, to deter any clumsy sword strokes, and once her vision cleared enough to see, she went right back in, this time not at all fearful of the woman's sword. She batted the blade away, circling her and hoping she was running out of steam concerning her green bolts. Bishop could deal with blades, but magic, oh that was something else alright.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sat Sep 01, 2012 10:04 pm

Using her temporary advantage to her fullest, Kassandra sent a couple of bolts at the redhead’s feet; if she didn’t have her strong stance, then everything would be thrown off kilter, and she would be not nearly so smooth in her fighting. It gave her a chance to scrub her arm across her eyes too, shoving back the loose bits of hair that had flopped over her face. A few bits stuck together, either from sweat or blood, but she didn’t take the time to check. Whether she started to feel woozy would tell her soon enough. Meanwhile, she wasn’t going to take the close attack again for a while, because she just wasn’t good enough with this damn longsword of hers. She definitely needed a bit more practice with it, once this was over. That much was obvious as the whore swiped her blade away with apparent ease, and Kassandra didn’t push to get her weapon back close again.

Thankfully, she was all charged up on magic- it didn’t help her temper, but it did help in endurance fighting, like this. Swapping her sword over to her other hand, she followed the circle that Red was following, idly releasing another little jolt of magic when she thought it might catch her off guard.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sun Sep 02, 2012 5:27 pm

Her feet tingled and burned in a way that was more irritating than actually being burned. She was numb practically up to her knees and she sidestepped another bolt. Bishop started to look as though she was very very irritated. Her brow was ticked, her pursed and she shook her head from time to time, slowly, as she circled the woman. "Are you trying to kill me or beat me up for some imaginary slight? Cos I got work to do." And she was losing money fighting with this stupid trick.

Bishop, to be clear, would stab her if she got close. She was not in the mood for whatever games the crazy slag was playing. Had she known coming to the tavern would result in assault by some lightning throwing bitch, she would have fought harder, maybe gave the bitch a reason to come and want to either kick her ass or kill her.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sun Sep 02, 2012 5:42 pm

“Make your mind up what you did, you skank,” spat Kassandra, tightening her grip on her sword, letting it loose then tightening it again as they circled one another, taking the time to get her breath back again, waiting for the right moment to catch the redhead off guard. “Either way, you insulted me in front of all those people.” She gestured back into the tavern, where she was sure there’d be curious faces pressed against the window, watching. Even if nothing had happened before, with Armeno, now this woman had mocked her in front of a whole tavern full of locals; and Kassandra hated to be embarrassed, hated to be marked out from the rest of a crowd, when she was around and about a town. She wouldn’t kill the woman, that wasn’t her way, and the thought of taking something that far sickened her, but she would teach her a damn good lesson.

Or at least, try. Apparently the humble barmaid was a little more than that.

She was wary of attacking again, given the woman’s quickness with her little blade against Kassandra’s own longsword, so she took a few more steps around, waiting until she had the open road at her back, rather than tavern; box the woman in, then force out of her some sort of apology, and the truth.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sun Sep 02, 2012 5:51 pm

Bishop snarled and threw herself at the woman when her sword was pointed at the ground. She may have looked like a waif, but she knew how to throw her weight around and it turned out she was thin, but not delicate. There was definitely a scrap in which both women lost their blades. Bishop wondered, if perhaps, the woman's magic could backfire on her and was hoping that the close proximity would prohibit her from using spells in case they backfired on her.

It was her only recourse.

The stupid bitch had started this all on her self. But telling her that would mean nothing. Bishop could try to reason with her all she liked, but she supposed a few scrapes and bruises would have to teach her that she'd done a stupid thing and it was entirely her fault whatever came after.

With her long limbs, she was pretty much all elbows and knees and wrestling the woman to keep her hands away from Bishop. She didn't know how the psychopath's magic worked. She wasn't about to wait and find out.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sun Sep 02, 2012 6:12 pm

Taken completely off guard, Kassandra lost her sword when Red suddenly leapt at her like a beast, knocking her off balance and sending them both to the floor. Instead of going for electricity (which was a little more unpredictable at close range), she attacked with claws instead, kicking and scratching. She managed to get in a couple of good hits on one arm, clawing red marks into her skin, but received a few in return, hissing in pain. At least the whore’s dagger had also got sliding out of reach too, otherwise she’d be in a much worse position.

Kicking out with her feet, she put her knee up to try and push Bishop off her, tugging at her hands to get them free from her grip. She hadn’t had a catfight like this with such ferocity before, but after getting an elbow in the cheek, she knew not to hold back and lashed out with her own, snapping with her teeth too. Thankfully she was not hindered by a skirt like the other woman was.
Finally getting one of her own legs around Red’s, she tried to push her over so she had the advantage, shoving at her with one elbow in the chest as well to make her lose her breath.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sun Sep 02, 2012 6:22 pm

Maneuvered onto her back, Bishop grabbed the woman's hair and tugged back, pushing her chin up. Her breastbone hurt from where she was elbowed and it only made her angrier. She bit the psychopath's hand when the woman pushed it against her face and let go of her hair to punch her in the tit. She had bigger tits than Bishop, so it wasn't really hard to aim for a sandbag. Some people would describe Bishop as nubile, but she was sure the skank on top of her would just call her flat-chested. She hooked her hand in her clothing and tugged, satisfied to hear a rip.

She hated being embarassed? By the time Bishop was done with her, she'd be naked gods-be-damned.

Bishop turned her head to avoid direct facial shots and tensed when the bitch landed some good hits. She'd be bruised alright. She only tugged harder and shot up to grab her hair again, tugging hard, hoping to tear a handful out.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sun Sep 02, 2012 6:43 pm

When the redhead bit her hand, Kassandra squealed, twisting her head so she could see again (head pulled back by her hair), ripping her hand free and punching her hard. Recoiling at the own punch she retrieved, her face contorted in pain and she arched her back, trying to avoid another blow like that again. Drawing one knee up so she had the woman pinned properly underneath her, she punched her again, this time in the throat, ears growing hot when she heard her shirt rip.

That slut.

Punching her again, this time at her breastbone, she let a little of her pent-up magic into it, fizzling across the skank’s front. There was backlash too, but Kassandra tried to ignore it- she had had worse before. Hair grabbed a second time, she fought blindly to claw at the woman’s arm, gripping her wrist hard and digging her thumb into the soft spot at the base of her hand, trying to make her release her grip. Her head was burning with pain, the first blow she had received from that glass sending sharp tingles all over her scalp, and a couple of spare shards of glass coming free too, to clink on the floor.

Subject: Re: Is He Your Man Or Isn't He? Sun Sep 02, 2012 6:48 pm

Cheating whore. Her neck hurt and she was just glad more force hadn't been behind that punch or she'd have had a closed windpipe, her entire chest tingled and she swore her heart skipped a beat. She was tired of this shit. She screamed wordlessly, a sound of pure rage, and managed to turn them over. For a moment, neither woman was on top, and it was just them on their sides, kicking and punching at each other. Bishop managed to get a hand in the hem of her trousers and braced her feet against the woman's thighs, tugging as hard as she could.

She took as many hits as it took to hear that satisfying rip.

By now, there was a crowd standing around, giving them plenty of room and Bishop hated them for only an instant. She knew that a fight was a show and if no one was being seriously hurt, they'd let the fight go on for longer than it should.