Fly Sparrow Crazy

[ShyWetThief]

Among the mazing corridors of the New Haven slums, nestled between an old alchemist's labratory and a struggling tailor's first shop, is the tavern affectionately refered to as the Dragon's Ass. There is no sign to advertise it's presence, and the windows have long since been bricked over, and yet rare is the night when music and laughter do not flow loudly and freely from it's warm embrace.

Here, you will find, is one of the few places that you can truly check your identity at the door and simply be alive. You'll find rogues laughing with the town guard over a pint, beggars discussing the gods with nobles, and men loving women, regardless of race or religion.

Here also you will find a young lady called Sparrow. She is mostly human, with curly auburn hair and sparkling grey eyes, and, if a glance is caught at the right time, is very lovely to look at. She is a petite little thing with the most delightful curves, especially for a "mostly-human" mutt, but you would not know this for the clothing she wore. Dressed in a boys attire, she hid her body behind darkly stained leather breaches and shirts, oversized cloaks, and boots two sizes too big. Completing this image was a wide smile and boisterous laugh, an innocent look in reply to inquiries, and a mischievous glint to answer any challenges. She is the "little sister" of every patron of the tavern, well known and well loved, and never seems to get enough attention.

On this night, though, she looks very much like a little girl dressed in her father's clothes. Gone is the confident grin and sparkling eyes - gone is the energetic laughter and unruly flirting. She sits at an empty table in a quiet corner of the room, eyes wide and watchful, contimplating the drink in front of her. Resting in her hands is a heavy, wooden box with strange, foreign symbols carved into it. It is perhaps a hand span tall, another wide, and half as deep. She holds it idly, as though to pick it up had been an afterthought, but the untouched drink infront of her belies this.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

Amanda

New Haven. Once when I was a little girl my mother took me here. I was afraid the entire time. The buildings all seemed to close in on me. The stench, the press of people: Not like the woods.

The woods were open, free, smelling of natural-ness. Food was there for the taking: Nuts, berries, mushrooms, even what many considered weeds.

Here, gold ruled. I had gold, gold earned in guiding human merchants through my forest. I had my swords. I had my scale mail armor. I had a short bow, and plenty of arrows.

What I didn't have was an understanding why I was here. The courier said I was to come to the Dragon's Ass (what a colorful name, I thought) and meet a man named Praxis. I don't know what he had in mind, why he would wish to hire a young girl with little knowledge beyond her forest, or why I had to enter this rat-hole to meet him, but here I was.

At first, the place looked closed. Condemned even. But I could hear the sound of music and drunken enjoyment within. So I pushed the door open, walking in.

A collection of rogues. My eyes immediately lock on the pair of orcs in the corner, but I am able to reign in my hatred. Wouldn't do, not right now.

I sit at what I think is an empty table, and order a mug of ale. My eyes are scanning around at everyone else in the room, not noticing the young woman sitting quietly in the shadow of the corner, at the table I have chosen.

 

[ShyWetThief]

The barwench, grinning ear to ear, brings a frothing mug over to Amanda, then glances at the young lady she shares her table with.

"Well, Sparrow? Are you going to introduce me to your new friend or not?" The barwench is middleaged but seems kindly enough, and more than a bit curious about this newcomer who seems so out of place.

Sparrow gives a short start, half rising from the table before returning to her seat. "Oh," she blinks, looking over the newcomer. Short bow... shortswords... various pouches... cornered look... she looks like a ranger... she looks like a ranger that really doesn't want to be here. The girl offers an absent shrug, "My cousin - put the drink on my tab."

The waitress looks uncertain, as if she highly doubts that the two women are related, but shrugs and moves away to take another order. Sparrow, meanwhile, returns to studying her drink, rolling the box between her hands.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"Well, Sparrow? Are you going to introduce me to your new friend or not?"

I jump in surprise, noticing the slight woman for the first time.

"My cousin - put the drink on my tab."

I look at her closely. Curious. Why?

"Thank you. Sparrow, is it? My name is Amanda."

Now that I know she is there, I can focus on her carefully, the shadow she is in no dimmer than the light elsewhere in the tavern. I notice the box, but its meaning escapes me entirely.

 

[poohlive]

As Kaegan stepped into the bar, he had his head lowered to the ground, barely able to see the room before him. He hunched, but his massive frame did not matter much. Over 6 feet, with lumbering muscles and a tuft of curly brown hair, he was going to be noticed where he liked it or not. The barbarian was far from a graceful creature, already war wounds covered his arms and legs, but he had a gentleness in his eyes, a serene look that might have swept a woman off her feet, had they not been attached to such a big brute.

The creature that followed him in wore a cloak over most of his body. The hood up, revealing nothing of his face but a blackened shadow. It swept along next to the man, standing what looked like taller and prouder than his friend, but it was hard to tell since he was covered in fabric. Smaller than the man in stature, and more slim, when he walked it was graceful and dignified, as if he danced through the room on tender slippers.

They found a table in the back, and ordered drinks. Neither spoke much, although Kaegan smiled at anyone who looked at them, some of his teeth missing. Darkened gaps that showed more than he was willing to admit.

 

[ShyWetThief]

Sparrow barely heard the woman's comment. Amanda, was it?

"Yes, I'm Sparrow," she murmurs, as though half dazed. She holds up the box, as if to offer inspection, then blushes and half hides it in her lap again. The sound of the door opening causes her to notice the contrasting pair that enters. Her gaze slides over them, as though her thoughts are somewhere else, but she does smile and nodd when eye contact is made.

"So... what brings you hear?" she speaks again, voice soft.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"I have been summoned to meet a man named Praxis. I do not know who he is, or why I have been summoned."

I glance over also at the barbarian and the other who enters. Something about the other stirs something in me, very primal, but too buried by my human blood to be recognized.

I turn my yellow gaze back to Sparrow.

"Do you know this ... Praxis?"

 

[Moonlight_33]

Shakira found the Inn easy enough. She’d been in this stinking hole of a place before, and many others like it. She had taken leave of the only people she had ever thought of as real family, a band of traveling performers. The old woman she knew only as Nan, told her that to ignore her dreams was to do so at her peril, and so here she was.

Pulling her cloak tighter around her body, she stepped into the crowded Inn. What a place, filled with the scum of the Earth and the vermin that fed off them. Still, who was she to judge the paths other had chosen for this lifetime? Certainly not she.

Her bright green eyes missed nothing, her instincts were sharp, and her mind was clear, yet there was nothing here that seemed out of the ordinary. Just another Inn full of half breeds and misfits, but wait… what was that? A flutter of light from across the room. The kind of light that only came from magic. Perhaps there was more to see here after all.

Melting into the crowed room, she remained almost invisible.

 

[Vixandra]

Velldandi Ste Cuthe

I walked into the "Dragon's Ass" laughing to myself over the name, my tricolored eyes taking in the entire room. I was fresh in from an adventure involving a dwarf warrior, an elf rouge, a huaman barbarian and a halfling bard who sang of milk and was damn near desprate for a group that was at least somewhat sane.
And a new adventure would always be fun, I muse as I brushed a speck of dust from my armour. The silver-traced scale mail was a special make- from the skin of a black dragon I'd killed. Sadly, the dragon hadn't killed the bard so the two week journey back to Haven had been him singing of me slaying the creature with my great Mace and milk white skin. As if I'd done it alone... the barbaian and the warrior had helped. I just managed to get the skin.

My boots clicked gently as I crossed the time-worn floorboards of the tavern to the bar to get myself a drink. "House ale any good," I asked the bartender.
"Best in the city, Cleric."
"Gimme a pint," I said, tossing a couple of silver on the bartop and taking the frothy mug. It actually was pretty good, I mused as I drank to my god. Good ale, good women (in my case men), perfect end for a cleric's day.
Good way to start the course for the next day as well, I mused with a grin, looking around the room.
Wonder what's got that ranger in the corner so uptight....

 

[ShyWetThief]

Sparrow blinks and suddenly seems to become slightly more defensive. "Yes," she speaks slowly and carefully. "I know Praxis... I think ..." she paused, looking at the box in her hands for seemingly the first time tonight. "He's not here yet."

She tosses the toy gently between her hands, then wraps her hands around it, almost covering it from view. So many people here tonight ... it would've been a good night to work....

 

[shadowoftheheart]

I watch the young Sparrow, a curious bird indeed. What is that box she holds? Well, it's no concern of mine, not unless she makes it mine.

"Come here often?"

I take a drink of ale. It's fair ale, though nothing like my mother's own brew.

I glance around the room, and my eyes immediately are drawn to tricolor orbs. Eyes of a kind I have never seen before. Beautiful, dangerous eyes. I blink, and see that they are part of a woman who wears equally beautiful silvered scale mail. It is fine workmanship, and I wonder idly what smith was able to so finely decorate and etch the scales.

I look back to Sparrow.

 

[ShyWetThief]

Sparrow lights up, as if finally distracted from a heavy thought. "Sure I come here all the time, I practically live here! It's to the point that when I accidentally brake a plate or mug, they don't even bother demanding payment, they just march me straight into that kitchen and set me to doing dishes!"

She laughs at the thought and sets the box down, talking as much with her hands as with her mouth. "Now, see that odd pair just next to us? That's Kaegan and his 'pet'," she giggles and pauses to wave warmly to them. "Don't let them fool you, Kaegan is a sweetheart and Gnolly is actually a prisoner of some sort, from what I understand, but they seem to get along well, and that's all that counts, isn't it?"

She pauses to wave the brute and his companion over, the box half forgotten. "Kaegan! Gnolly! Why are the two of you sitting there all alone for? Come over here and keep us company!"

 

[shadowoftheheart]

I smile widely at her sudden animation. Nodding at appropriate moments, laughing at her comment about the dishes. She does resemble a sparrow. Apt name.

"Gnolly?"

Interesting. I look again at the smaller of the two. I blink. Another apt name, I wonder?

I glance back to the box. Strange. I start to wonder again, what is it?

But then I glance over at the other two, with a smile and a wave. Perhaps they know Praxis..

 

[poohlive]

Kaegan gave a goofy grin, but lowered his head and moved over a seat. His body shook as he plopped himself down on a low bench. It creaked under his weight, the other body, still not showing any sign of the person underneath the hood, silently followed.

"I thought you were busy," his voice boomed, despite its soft tones. It was like boulders grinding against each other, pleasent but rough, "Didn't want to disturb you or your new friends. We were just here to relax. It's been a long day."

Behind him, the hooded creature growled, and then was quiet.

 

[Moonlight_33]

Shakira watched everyone and everything in the room but there was a particular table that caught her eye. They look ordinary enough, for this place. And all seemed friendly and laid back, but there was something about them… as she focused on the small group, her vision began to change. Her head began to spin a little, her mind shift, and then she saw the horror that was to come.

The faces at the table changed, there were no more smiles, no more laughter, just blood. Blood and pain. She began to gasp for breath and the entire room began to change and shift. Blood everywhere. Dismembered bodies littered the floor and cries of pain filled her ears. She tried to cover her ears but the sound would not go away.

The man beside her turned to face her, his face almost split in two. Through the blood he gurgled “Evil. Evil is coming.”

She could take no more, her head felt as though it would burst with the pain. She screamed with the horror that surrounded her, and then it was gone and she fell unconscious to the floor.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"What in the hells?"

I immediately rose, hands near my swords, and dashed to the fallen woman.

"What happened here?"

I could feel the contradictory emotions of my heritage rising. I immediately scanned her body, and those near her, for signs of physical harm, and prepared to defend the fallen one. At the same time, I felt the rise of my baser nature, as the prospect of a fight made half my blood begin to boil.

 

[ShyWetThief]

At the sound of the blood curdling scream, Sparrow herself cries out and cringes severly. It's almost as if she expects the tortured sound to cause her pain.

As soon as she recovers, she scrambles away from the noise and the commotion, scanning the crowd warrily. A sudden movement catches her eye. "Praxis!" she hisses.

 

[Moonlight_33]

As she began to regain consciousness she was more aware of the drums pounding in her head then of the figures that moved around her. One of the young women from the table she had been watching was at her side, sword drawn, and the room seemed a mass of confusion.

She reached out a shaking hand to the woman beside her.

“Death is coming. This place is a trap. Evil. Blood. Got to leave. All of you.”

She tries to climb to her feat but the vision had made her weak. She made it to her hands and knees, her head hanging low as she paused to catch her breath

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"Praxis!" I hear Sparrow hiss,

“Death is coming. This place is a trap. Evil. Blood. Got to leave. All of you.”

The woman that collapsed says.

I reach out to her, to help her up.

"Take my hand. "

My blood now boils in anticipation. I scan the room, seeing where everyone is. This woman, Sparrow, Kaegan, Gnolly: I count them as friends, though I know them very little. All others, I hold judgement upon.

I do not draw my swords. I instead think upon my mother's words, to calm me. Calmness, that is what is needed, not the blood-lust of the barbaric Orc-kind.

 

[Moonlight_33]

Taking the woman’s hand, Shakira made it to her feet. She was still a little unsteady, but was quickly regaining her strength. She tries to think, tries to remember, but it escapes her. She is almost over whelmed with the need to flee. What ever evil was coming, it was too big to fight.

She grabbed to woman’s arm… “We must flee. There is no time.”

 

[shadowoftheheart]

I look at her square, my yellow eyes glinting with just a hint of the feral orc before battle.

"We must flee. There is no time.”

"How do you know this? What is wrong?"

 

[GideonRose]

Gideon

Loping through the city, wending her way through the slums trying to find someone - anyone. She was tired and sick of running. Even for her, this was a long trip. 4 days running from the mountains of the north. She needed to find people of her kind. Well not really "her kind" as she was outcast amongst most of them. Just someone that knew what could be happening, any magical person. She had questioned a few elves. Most of them would not surrender her any information, sensing what she was. By the time she found another elf, she was out of patience. She scared the elf enough to get directions to a place called the "Dragons Ass". She had to get there and tell them what she saw. She wasn't a big fan of humans, most of them detesting her kind, but she had to warn them, help them if she can. She didn't like Orcs anyway.

The big wolf saw a dusty old sign on what looked like a condemned building. She squinted to read it and saw it was the right place. She loped around trying to find an entrance and when she saw the doors she burst through them, seeing a woman on the floor and others crowded around her. She skidded to a halt, bumping into table, knocking ale all over the place. She heard some cries of protest, before she changed into her human shape with a howl.

She cracked her neck. "Painful," and stopped, only to see a sword levelled at her throat. She growled and muttered, "So this is what I get for coming to help!"

 

[poohlive]

"Gnolly, no!"

The gnoll had let go of the disguise before the door had even swung open. The gnoll put his head up in the air, a single sniff, and then it growled, deep in its throat. A low and feral sound that made the hairs on Kaegan's arm stand on end.

As the wolf crashed into the bar, everything turned to chaos. Tables overturned, drinks thrown, people falling, screaming. Gnolly moved through it all, precision and saliva glinting off his too sharp teeth. He let his sword come out, a two bladed sword. One handle in the middle, and two blades out each end. The thing was huge, and the way the gnoll handled it, dangerous as well.

The gnoll stood at the things throat, ready to cut it open, see the fresh blood pour down. It yearned for that blood, would lick at the wound with a sick frenzy, but as the barbarian shouted the command, the gnoll froze in his tracks, black eyes piercing the now woman.

"Heel, Gnolly. Heel."

The gnoll gave a growled sniff, the equiavelent of a human "humph" and moved back to the barbarian, who ran to help the woman get up.

"I'm sorry, he's not used to humans... or wolves, or wolves turning into humans. My name is Kaegan. Are you all right?"

 

[Moonlight_33]

Shakira looked about the room at the chaos that had erupted, then looked the young ranger in the eye.

"I can see things some times. Some things I just know. I have a sight but I never learned to master it. When visions force their way in, it means my life is in danger. What I saw, I could not stop. Death is coming, we must leave."

She fought to controll herself, holding back the panic that was rising within her.

 

[ShyWetThief]

ooc - welcome to the game, GideonRose. If you could post a discription of your character in the OOC area ( https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=367439 ), I'd really appreciate it. Also, Dragon's Ass is in the slums of a city called New Haven, just in case you missed some of the earlier posts.


Once the bartender realizes that the woman is allright, he has the surrounding crowd disperse as much as he can. "Alright, she's just got a bit of the visions, back off and let her breathe!" But as he turns back to his patrons, the wolf slides in. Then it turns into a human.

Sparrow sprints, dodging nimbly around people, and sometimes even climbing over them, toward her friends and the door. The hairs on her arms and the back of her neck are beginning to stand, and the quiet voice that knows when bad things are going to happen is beginning to wail. Praxis is here, she knows it.

She slides to a stop in front of the tangle of people, eyes wide and half fearful. "Praxis," she whispers, looking at the ranger in particular. "He's here." She doesn't know why she's so scared, Praxis never scared her this badly before, but she is.