The Soul of a Dragon

[ame]

"Well, I'll leave... But not peacefully. Dragon-man here picked a fight when he unsheathed his sword. I'm not easily intimidated, but it pissess me off when people try. No swords, melee." Ame said. No one does that! He then shot a look at the one who offered him a drink. "Sounds good. I'll take the fourth expensive you got." Ame then kicked at the man's sword hoping to disarm him.

[Mama Z]

(wait wait wait..who offered you a drink?)

[ame]

(Fely as Misty.)

[Mama Z]

As soon as the sword was drawn, Richard was instantly over in front of the girls and the weakened Caliga. Both his arms were outstretched to either side, trying to further block the small group. 'Do you honestly think it wise it start this kind of trouble in a human town?' He questioned quietly. Indeed, already a small crowd was starting to gather, and already a few of the human men looked like they were about to jump in and kill both Cal and this pain in the ass. 'You best leave now and quietly.'

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[Monkey Monk]

An anger began to fester deep within Caliga. He desired nothing
more than to run the other through his his blade. It will be
easy...he's asking for it. Hear him? Let the lust go. Kill
again....NO! What's wrong with me!?" It was Richard's actions
that saved him from the trouble of indecision. For a moment he
simply blinked a few times at the others, as if he had forgotten
who they were. Yet the reality of their situation crashed upon
his mind coldly and nearly caused him to drop his blade. Shyly he
sheathed the weapon in the concealed container that resided
within his thick coat. All that showed of the saber was the hilt
which protruded behind his head. Slowly Cal's emerald eyes tore
their glaring gaze from the fox being to see what was going on
around him

When he saw the edgy crowd, he felt his pulse begin to quicken.
This would definitely not be the first time a mob had been angry
at him. Slowly he took a step backward, his black boot echoing
out upon the cobblestone and into the eerie silence. His muscles
were tense and his veins pumped adrenaline. The fight or flight
syndrome entered his mind. Yet the idea of fighting this fox-like
creature and the crowd was easily quelled. To do so
would cause trouble for the Rising Dragon. Already his mere
presence was causing trouble, no doubt. Maybe he should just
go back into the tavern and to his booth. No....he couldn't do
that either. If the crowd saw him entering the inn without
resistance the number of patrons would surely drop. Yet he
definitely did not want to leave. As he fought this battle of
thoughts within his mind, he remained tense. To any who looked
upon him he would resemble a cornered animal.

[Felypsa]

Misty could have hugged Richard, she was so grateful for his interference. She too had observed the small crowd, attracted by the tension, and nervously hoped that nothing would come of this. Would this fox-creature and Caliga fight? They certainly both seemed inclined. And what could she do to stop them? But her fears were unfounded, for Richard stepped in, and Cal sheathed his sword. Misty breathed a sigh of relief.

But the tension did not go away. Misty wondered if the fox-man was still willing to fight despite everything, and she saw that Caliga had sort of shrunk back. She immediately felt sorry for him and decided to pull him out of this—both for his sake and for the sake of the Rising Dragon’s business. Now was the best time, when the group’s attention was on Richard. She tugged Caliga’s shirt and motioned for him to follow her.

If he did, she would lead him behind, to a secret entrance of the inn that only the inn staff knew of. She pulled out a key that she had on her at all times, and unlocked the door. She would beckon to Cal, and enter the inn. The room she was in was actually kitchen. Misty would smile at Caliga in a friendly way, as if nothing outside had happened, and point to the sink. “You said you would wash dishes to earn your keep,” she reminded him, her eyes dancing mischievously. “I think now’s the time.”

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[ame]

"Damn people," said Ame freezing his kick in mid air as to not hurt the man who ran in front of the two women and the man. Ame then noticed the crowd around him. He unsheathed his short sword from his hip and spun around to face the people behind him who were sneaking up to him with daggers and sticks. "Back off unless you want this blade across your throat!"

[Mama Z]

'Enough.' Richard stated, his regularly bright blue eyes seeming to flash with something dangerous, almost seeming to turn a dark red color. 'Leave, you tred on their territory its only fair they fight off the danger.' The deep tone of his voice held no fear for the blade. He had nothing to lose if the damned creature ran the blade through his body. He would only suffer a few short throbs of pain then the next he would be a child once more.

Lina glanced as she watched Misty move to take Caliga away from the scene then at her brothers sudden change of tone.

[/color]

[Monkey Monk]

Caliga watched as the fox-like creature only continued to stir up
trouble. He marveled at how a creature could be so headstrong
and down right stupid. Yet he did not have much time to wonder
about these things. His desires from earlier were fulfilled when
Misty began to lead him around the tavern. Quickly he looked
over his shoulder in time to see Richard speaking to the trouble
maker. A desire to go back and help arose within him, but he
knew his just being there would only cause more trouble than
help. It was thus that he allowed himself to be lead into the
kitchen. When Misty told him to start cleaning dishes, he blinked
at her for a moment. The earlier events had pushed thoughts of
his debt aside.

After a moment he remembered his promise and nodded his
head. A slight smile came across his face as he muttered his
agreeance. As he took the rag and bar of soap, Cal went about
scrubbing the remnants of dinners from the plates, bowls, and
silverware. He worked rather quickly and efficiently, wanting to
earn respect in the eyes of the inn keepers. During the whole
time, he remained silent. Wistful thoughts rang out in his head.
What was that creature out there? Where did that feeling of
blood lust come from that had nearly overcome him. And there
was still the question that always came to mind. Who was he?
In absolute silence he cleaned the dishes. The spotless ones
were beginning to pile up, but he did not notice.

[Felypsa]

Once Misty was sure Caliga was busy washing the hated dishes, she went back to waitressing. To her relief, even with the absence of music, the influx of customers had stayed. Though originally attracted by the tunes of the siblings, they were now discovering the inn’s good quality of food and liquor, and decided to stay—for the time being. She was still anxiously eyeing the small but rowdy crowd outside, and hoped that none of the other patrons would see and join. She really wished that fox-man would go away, so that the inn could settle back into the monotony of success.

But in the meantime, Misty remembered suddenly that she offered to bring the fox-man a drink. “The fourth expensive you got,” he had ordered. She shook her head and sighed, hurrying over to her father’s bar to pour some fine ale. With the mug in hand, she hurried out into the fray.

“Here’s your drink,” she blurted once she caught sight of Ame. Without waiting for an answer, she shoved the mug of good ale into his hand, the one that wasn’t armed with a short sword. She swallowed and burst out, “Now that you’ve got the drink, please leave.” She didn’t wait to see if he would take her advice; she caught Lina’s eye and mouthed “be careful.” A moment later, though, Misty hurried back into the inn, having work to do and afraid of getting caught in the middle of a brawl.

She went back to work; there were meals to deliver and tables to clean. After a while, Misty came back into the kitchen, pleasantly flushed from all the activity. To her delight, she saw that Caliga was washing dishes very well. There was a great pile of clean ones, which Misty quickly began to put away in the proper cupboards.

She viewed the scaled man out of the corner of her eye, and felt a strange kind of regret. She cleared her throat before speaking to him, not realizing he was so deep in thought. “I, uh, really appreciate this, by the way,” she said quietly. “I really despise dishes, as you may have realized.” She smiled shakily, but did not look at him. While she still had her gaze averted, she added shamefully, “I also really appreciate you sticking up for this inn…even though I didn’t treat you very well.” There was an apology in there, but Misty was too hesitant and sheepish to actually say “I’m sorry.”

[ame]

Ame drank the ale. She didn't even stay for me to give her the cough pills. he thought. Then he began to speak in his fake Irish accent half to the crowd, half to the woman and the man who were directly involved. "I'm sure he means well but look at him. The kid's a kitsune. He even thinks he used to be human."

[Mama Z]

Richard watched Ame carefully as Misty suddenly appeared shoving the drink in his hands. For a brief second he pictured her spilling it on him. But as he spoke, both the siblings rolled thier eyes in unison. This guy was dumb. 'Dont act like you know whats wrong with him.' Here, the partical human dropped his arms to the side, allowing Lina to step up close to him.

Lina mouthed a simple thank you in return to Misty then stepped up next to her brother. 'And hes no kid.' She put in, crossing her arms and cocking one hip.

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[Monkey Monk]

As Misty spoke his gratitude to his work, he nodded his head
slowly. When he spoke, his voice was low and barely above a
whisper. "No need to thank me, I owe you these deeds.." His
hands paused as it seemed she was not done. Slowly he let his
emerald eyes move to her, noticing she seemed to want to keep
from looking at her. As her apology rang out into the air, or that
was how he saw it, Cal sighed and looked down to the plate in
the water. Slowly he scrubbed over it's surface. For some time
he was simply silent. He was trying to think of the right words to
express his thoughts. So deep was he in thought, that he did
not notice that the dish in his hands was already clean. Over
and over he rubbed the soapy rag over it's surface.

Quite suddenly he looked down and noticed what he was doing.
He dried off the plate and set it on a stack of others. When he
went to grab another dish, there was not one left. After drieing
off his hands, he turned around and leaned on the counter.
Silently he looked at Misty, the light gleaming off the scales on
his cheek and partially exposed chest. Slowly he shook his head
and looked down to the floor. "There is nothing to apologize for
Misty. You and everyone else have treated me far better than
everyone else in this city. Usually I get down and have just
enough time to pay for and smell my food before I am tossed
out onto the street. Sure, for the first few times it was hurtful.
However, I've grown used to it now."

[Felypsa]

As Caliga washed and dried the last dish, Misty instinctively put away all that he had already cleaned. With the crowd in the inn they had tonight, they would be needing them soon. But for now, Misty could marvel at the empty sink. She placed the final dish in the cupboard, listening to her curious guest reply. She kept her back to him though, for she was not sure how she would react if she faced him directly. She was too ashamed to.

But as Caliga spoke of how others treated him, she felt increasingly guilty. How many times had she seen her father do the very same to other half-breeds who had dared enter his inn? How many times had she herself done it? She was brought up that way. Half-breeds were terrible monsters, she was told, they were threats to decent human life, and they ought not be given a single opportunity. They’re famous for biting the benevolent hand that fed them. Misty was just a girl trying to fit in with the society around her; but already, she had defied their most important, if unwritten, law.

She felt like a traitor to both sides. How am I supposed to know what to do? On the one hand, there’s Caliga, who’s frightening but certainly not as bad as that troublemaker outside. He doesn’t deserve such cruel treatment. But on the other hand, there’s my father’s inn, which has to keep business up…and nonhumans like that fox-man cause nothing but trouble. She concluded, for the time being, that Caliga must be an exception to most nonhumans, for he was decent and polite while the fox-man outside was a loose cannon.

It was a small step towards open-mindedness for Misty, but it was at least one step in the right direction.

“That’s terrible,” she remarked to Caliga, still unable to meet his gaze for fear of what she would find there. “I would never be able to handle such harshness. I-I’d rather die before being treated like that regularly. Y-you are very brave, and strong, Caliga.” There was some respect in her voice, albeit it was wary. As if Misty felt she had no choice to respect him, but did so grudgingly.

She leaned over to look out the window. To her dismay, the small crowd had not yet dispersed, although it had not grown either. She had hoped that the fox-man would have left when she had given him the ale (and on the house, too!), but he seemed disinclined to depart yet. She hoped that Lina and Richard would be alright. She selfishly wanted them to just pull away from the crowd and get back to playing their music, but knew this was a more pressing concern first. Misty sighed gloomily. “I just want what’s best for The Rising Dragon,” she whispered, mostly to herself. She did not see the irony in her words.

[Mama Z]

(Amethyst..Fit your post so it goes with the rest of everyone elses. Shes just not randomly going to walk up to a group that has a Fox-thing in the middle as well as an angry mob around it..)