Unwanted Intervention

[Katarya Frost]

Kat looked down and grimaced at the mud on her boots; why she insisted on dressed so well when visiting her patients in the slums, she didn't know. Perhaps it was because it have her some kind of air of authority, though that seemed to matter more with her human clients, and not the elves. They didn't seem to care what she looked like; they accepted her aid grudgingly, but she was slowly making way with them. It seemed the older they were, the less likely they were to be accepting oh a young human healer.

She had just finished a visit with old Tíla ... though 'visit' was hardly the right word. 'Battle' might be more appropriate.

"Miss Frost!"

Kat turned as Mr. Gull approached. She had been treating his eldest daughter ever since she had taken over from her grandmother, and didn't really like the man all that much. He seemed decent enough, but he had made it plain as day what he thought of her treating elves. Since she was coming from that end of the sums (where the poor elves had gathered), she knew she was in for another discussion of what she should or should not be doing. "Good afternoon, Mr. Gull, how can I help ..."

"You ain't coming near my lass no more." The large man reached her, his face was red and the smell of drink was strong on him. "Not if you are gonna be touching those filthy elves! They could carry all sorts, and you could make my girl sick."

Kat's eyes narrowed. "You're drunk, Mr. Gull. I'll not talk to you in this state."

The man's face twisted in anger. "You're ten years my junior, you stuck up bitch! And my girl ain't no better! To her surprise he grabbed her arm, and began to near drag her to his home. "You can come and look at my girl, instead of spending your time on that lot."

Kat felt her heart beat a bit quicker. There were things she could do of course, but a crowd had gathered and she was hardly likely to start casting. It also annoyed her that no one was inclined to intervene. "Mr. Gull; you'll let go of me this instant! This is no way to treat ..."

"Just shut your fucking mouth for a change and..." And then he stopped, his grip on her failing and he sank to his knees.

There was a gasp from all around them, and Kat stared in shock as a dagger buried itself in the man's throat. "Mr Gull!" Despite everything, she jumped forward to try and do something, but as he gurgled out a breath, his hands clutching at the blade in his throat, there was no spell that could reverse this.

Her eyes cast about, and a figure, only barely visible from the shadows between two shacks, vanished.

"Oh, Ny'tha!" She whispered as the man fell to the floor, his body twitching in the throes of death. She glanced up. "Someone call the ..." Her voice faltered when she looked at the knife. She knew it. She had seen this one before.

Mila ...

***

Later on, after a talk with the guards where she had done Mila the favour of saying the had seen a "large man with black hair", but had feigned a woman's nervousness and had been allowed to go, she was sat in the White Hart, having sent Nyx to find Artemis. She needed to have a talk with him about his new student. Take a very long drink of her wine, she waited, with the knife that had done the deed on the table before her.

[Mila Glade]

Mila had been stalking the slums, practising moving around the place without being seen. She watched the people here with a mixture of pity and confusion. If life here was so awful, why not move?

It was during this particular excursion that she saw Artemis's lover; Katarya Frost. At first, she had decided to go and say 'hello'; the witch was quite beautiful, and Mila would never forget how she had helped her when her father had died.

And then the man set on on her.

Mila's eyes were filled with cold fire as she listened to him describe elves, and then when he had grabbed her arm and began dragging her away. She acted out of instinct. Almost as if she weren't aware, her hand had reached for her best dagger and with a throw filled with passion and hatred, had let it fly. It had sunk into the man's throat; exactly where she had planned! Artemis would be proud, she was sure of it. She had protected his lover and had hit her mark.

When the witch had looked panicked, Mila was somewhat confused, but she was sure she had done the right thing. Moving back into the shadows when Katarya had looked her way, she took a long detour back to the warehouse. She had only been sent out after nagging Black about being bored, now she came back triumphant.

Stepping back into Artemis's home (which she was now a guest in) she looked around for her new teacher, but her eyes fell upon a hastily scribbled note: 'Mila, come to Hart. Now.'

With a shrug, Mila did as she was told and set out for the Elven Tavern.

[Artemis Black]

Artemis sat on his warehouse floor amidst a pile of scratched and dented crates of various shapes and sizes. He’d brought all his belongings from his private room and scattered them around in the warehouse as part of a vain attempt to organize what was rapidly becoming untenable clutter for his ever-shrinking private space.

His first act after actually getting all the boxes upstairs had been to get a set of large canvas sheets. He’d taken the sheets and anchored the corners closest to the wall down with small spikes. This would allow him to cover his collection of valuables and make it simply appear as part of the collection of detritus and debris that normally filled the aging building.

He was looking over his pilfered crossbow and its ammunition when Nyx came swooping into the warehouse through an upper window with agitated croaks and chatter. The thief looked up to the familiar as she circled around him in quick swoops and dives.

“Something the matter Beaky?” he asked the bird, who finally came to settle on his outstretched arm. Nyx chattered an affirmative and Artemis’ eyes narrowed. “Is Kat hurt?” he asked as ice began to fill his gut. The bird waggled its head and he felt the chill ease back. “Mila in trouble?” he queried. Nyx flapped slightly. “Street or Hart?” Artemis asked, flipping his fingers to either wing. Nyx raised the wing for the White Hart and he nodded. “Alright then girl. Lead on,” he said before moving to set the remaining anchors on his canvas camouflage.

After his goods were secure he made quick work of getting up and onto the rooftops. Nyx never came to him for minor things any more. ‘Wish she’d come to visit just for a pet and a berry,’ Artemis thought to himself as he lept over a small rise in a shop roof. He’d started practicing his running with an eye for speed after watching Mila outperform him handily. Now he could manage to keep a good eye on her even if she went all out. His pace got him to the White Hart with a burning legs and heaving lungs and he decided to take a few moments to catch his breath before bursting in gasping.

Artemis entered the White Hart composed and calm, his gait steady and his eyes searching. He noticed Katarya and moved to her table, offering a short bow of his head to the bar without noting if the Quimellë was present.

“What’s happened?” he asked quietly as he wrapped Kat up in a quick hug before taking his seat beside her.

[Katarya Frost]

Kat had picked a table away from any other early patrons that might be about; now that she had a secure rank, her actions were no longer questioned or queried, and she thanked Ny'tha this was so.

As Artemis entered, she gave him a long sigh. "This happened." She motioned to the knife.

She explained what had happened during her routine visit to the slums. "It was difficult to get the dagger out, and I had to ..." She struggled with what she had to say. "I replaced it with a scalpel of my own, so this one would not be traced back." She sighed. "Hopefully a crime in the sums will not warrant too much interest from the watch, but a healer's scalpel in a man's neck doesn't look good for me. My saving grace was that other's attested to the fact that it was thrown, and that I was being .... manhandled, by that man."

She put her hand on Artemis'. "Mr. Gull was a racist drunk, but he didn't deserve a knife in the throat. If you can shed any light on this, because my own mind is jumping to conclusions, and those conclusions involve the newest addition to our little family; Mila."

Kat watched her lover's face, to see what he would say. They had known the girl for such a short time, but neither, she thought, could deny the girl was full of hatred and vengeance.

[Artemis Black]

Artemis frowned as Kat pointed to a blade on the table. It was a rather distinct design, clearly one of his specialty straight toss knives. ‘Must be Mila getting into trouble, but the blade was dug in deep, and right in the neck to boot. A good toss then,’ he mused as he listened to Katarya’s explanation of what had happened. He shrugged at his love when she mentioned his student. “Either she was killed by an expert thrower, or she saw an opportunity and took it,” he said with a slight frown. “Gotta teach her a bit about this. Can’t go around just murdering everyone who gives you a side eye. That’d have boot on your door and a rope around your neck before the end of the week,” he added, scratching idly at his cheek.

He motioned for a server as one passed by, “Two ales and a wine please,” he said easily before turning back to Kat. “I can definitely talk to her about it. You don’t need the trouble, and you said he was roughing you up when the knife hit? Are you okay?” he asked before giving her a quick kiss and another sideways hug. “She better be real comfortable with her toss or I’m going to flay her alive,” he growled softly after settling back into his chair and taking her hand fully into his to lightly caress.

[Katarya Frost]

When Artemis placed his order, Raya dipped her head with a: Yes, Lassë" she said, and moved off to do her duty.

Katarya returned the kiss, and frowned as she handed him the blade. "I think she needs more than a 'talk to', Tinwé. She's dangerous!" She glanced up as Raya set their drinks down. "Hanta, Raya." She said, then looked back to Artemis.

"Yes, he grabbed me. It was nothing I couldn't have taken care of. The man was a bigot and a drunk, but I've known him and his family for years now what will they do without his income? Their lives are already hard enough living in the slums ... I'll have to treat them for free, which doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that Mila is so ... 'free' with her knives. That was not the time for murder."

[Artemis Black]

He had to try very hard not to give his love a dumbfounded stare when she exclaimed Mila’s dangerous nature. Instead he sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “Yes, Lómë, the woman with knives and the ability to slip into the shadows is dangerous. Just like I am, and the same with you. Your actual concern is she does not share your perspective,” he said as he looked over his knife. It was cleaned and hadn’t even chipped yet.

‘Need to thank O’Dell for the set, see how much it ran him,’ he thought to himself as he listened to Katarya. “For a bigot and a drunk he’s gotten a more peaceable end than most. A quick pain, a sudden coldness, and then the beyond. If you truly feel the need, see what skills the family has. Mayhap they can earn a keep,” he finally said with a shrug as he returned the blade to his secondary wrist sheath.

He held up a hand to forestall Kat’s ire turning on to him. “I’ll speak to her, make sure she knows the rules, but she’s her own and the only way I could truly stop her would be to give her an equal cut,” he said rolling his neck to try and stave off the rising tension in his shoulders. He hated being treated as if he was somehow responsible for someone else. He could talk to Mila until the tides came in, but that wouldn’t force her to even wipe a speck of dust from her shoulder.

[Mila Glade]

It was at that point, Mila walked into the Hart. After she had made sure to put a good amount of distance between herself and the scene of the crime, she had gone to the warehouse, seen the note and made her way to the Elven pub.

She took the rooftops; she wanted to stay sharp on that front and Artemis outclassed her by leagues. She needed the practice.

When she arrived at the tavern, she pushed through and made her way over to Katarya and Artemis. She glanced down at the knife on the table, and gave them both a quick grin. "I'm glad that turned out okay. Are you alright, Miss Kat?" She asked.

[Katarya Frost]

Kat raised a brow as Mila sauntered over to them, eyeing the knife and smiling. When she asked how she was, Kat sighed in exasperation. "Take a seat, Mila."

When the young half-elf complied, Kat picked up the dagger. "This was unnecessary, she explained. "I have ... had ... known that man since I was a little girl. Of course he shouldn't have grabbed be like that, but I promise you that I am more than capable of dealing with one drunk. You cannot just go around the city killing people in this manner; you'll stick your knife in the wrong person and the watch will be out in force. And don't just think they will stop at you; if they get a whiff of you, and make some connections ..." She glanced around her, motioning to Artemis as well. "You could have a lot of people put under the looking glass, and a lot of us don't always operate inside the law; we need to be anonymous."

MIla sat back in her chair, folding her arms sullenly. As Katarya lectured her, Mila's frown deepened. She thought she would have some freedom mixing with these kinds of people, but now they were telling her what and what not she ought to be doing. "He was going to hurt you." She said, annoyed. She liked Katarya. A lot. It stung to have been told off by her.

The girl's eyes went to Artemis. "What would you have done?" She asked him, out-rightly.

[Artemis Black]

Artemis watched Katarya lecturing Mila with a neutral expression. It wasn’t his place to interrupt the women and his general plan was to remain uninvolved as long as he could manage. Kat had a good point, one he could certainly sympathize with, but Mila’s simple rebuttal was also valid. When the half-elf looked to him and questioned directly he frowned.

“In the heat of the moment, I can’t say. I’ve seen Kat work with the rougher sort of customer, people scared and using the drink or something else to hide their pain. I also know she’s more than capable. Though I did drop that fellow when he called her some nasty things. I think today I would have simply moved over and separated them, maybe give the drunkard a bit of a shove if he kept it on,” Artemis said, shrugging as he realized Mila’s actions weren’t entirely unreasonable to him.

“The big thing comes down to attracting attention. The one bit we can all agree on, I think,” he said, trying to get some consensus. “You need to be a little less light with the knives, a little more heavy on the eyes or just plain defusing. They find out what she does, we all disappear into a place I’d rather not consider,” he added with a nervous scratch at his cheek.

“At the end of the day though, I’m just someone willing to teach you some tricks. What you do or don’t isn’t much of my business unless it makes trouble for me and mine. I’d like to hope you consider me something like a friend one day, but I know how things go copper at a time.” Artemis offered Mila a weak smile and another shrug of his shoulders.

“Let’s say we mark this as an important lesson and move on?” he asked the space between the two women with his hands held up in a placating way. He was trying hard not to stare intently for their reactions, but he was also painfully aware just where his loyalties lay if it went sideways.