In a dimly lit pub just outside of a small town called Tahir, a young woman laughed with trails of fire magic following her hands, dancing on the makeshift stage the owner had set out. Her smiled glowed as brightly as the gold of her clothing's ornaments that adorned her figure, each sway and movement of her limbs causing a jingle. Patrons of all levels of sobriety enjoyed the extra entertainment, some watching in awe and others for less innocent reasons, while the rest were downing their beverages and having a good time with their friends. The newfound environment, completely opposite from the stuffy snob taverns she had been forced to grow accustomed to, was a huge breath of fresh air. The folk of this side of the country was so loud, obnoxious, and brotherly in their own ways. Suraya would dare say she felt more at home here than in the heart of Ufral, where her mother and father were waiting for her.
Ever since her disappearance from the Farrokhzad noble house, she had been exposed to more than she could have ever dreamed of. Away from the prim and proper lifestyle of a nobleman, from the lies, the manipulation, and just generally free of care from the world was where Suraya felt happiest. Like this, moving her body to the rhythm of whatever music that happened to be playing was where her heart belonged. No matter where the stage or in what country, Suraya would perform for anyone willing to watch. She would happily give up everything she was worth if it meant staying like this for the rest of her days.
However, just as she finished her dance and bowed to accept her applause, the doors opened to reveal less friendly faces. Suraya looked over to see three men, dressed in typical mercenary gear. Each man was armed with different weapons; one with a bow, another with an ax, and the final with a sword and shield.
They eyed her, recognizing her as their target. The men didn't need to say anything for Suraya to understand what they were going to do.
The pink haired girl pouted, "Looks like the show's over..." Her eyes quickly searched every possible exit. The door, the back door, and the windows. Taking the back door route was too high of a risk since she wasn't familiar with this tavern. The bowman of the mercenaries was guarding the front, which meant her easy capture if she tried to run to it.
"Escape tactic One! Let's go Naira!"
With that, Suraya took a running start and jumped through the thin and flimsy glass of the pub's window. Though her arms were a bit cut, the dancer immediately got back up as the mercenaries quickly moved to try and catch her.
Hearing her name above the cheers and whistles of an eager crowd, a girl in the audiences finished her drink and bundled up in her cloak, its violet hues possibly an easier mark than her hair's a particularly vibrant shade of green. This was not their first escape from what Naira could only assume were the hounds of one of Suraya's
suitors, but the accomplice's hesitation toward the window told of their recent introduction.
In the end, the girl opted for the back route, scrambling past a few barmaids and cooks while awkwardly donning a satchel and repositioning her staff to fit through a door, and once outside, she stopped to search among the grass, heedless of any pursuers that could be on her trail. Eventually, she found what she was looking for, and reached down to pluck a weed from the ground. Raising it to her lips, she blew between the blades, producing a loud, high-pitched whistle that shrieked across the evening sky.
And in the distance, a horse's whinny called out in acknowledgment.
Not far from the pub, a young woman dressed in armor flew through the evening air. Atop her kinshi mount, she was something of a spectacle to those below her. In truth, she would rather not be somewhere so public, but she had a job to do. Getting to Thallia was her priority, and this was simply the most direct route there. Besides, she needed somewhere to stay. Why not here? Tahir wasn't the most densely populated place, after all. She doubted that one lone Midori scout would cause much uproar. So, she stared straight ahead, the wind blowing through her hair as her kinshi flew onward. Her mind drifted for a moment, and the girl allowed her thoughts to wander.
That is, until something crashed below her.
Mei Takahashi's mind snapped back into focus. She pulled on her reins, prompting her kinshi to stop. Looking down, Mei surveyed the pub for a moment, before noticing the source of the crash: a red-haired woman who, evidently, had just leaped through a window. At the pub's back entrance, another woman emerged, whistling through something she picked up off the ground. The kinshi flyer grit her teeth, wondering what kind of trouble she'd just stumbled upon. She'd heard of some runaway noble matching the woman's description...could that be her?
"Sora, down," Mei commanded, getting a low chirp from the kinshi in response.
In one swoop, Sora dove toward the ground, rearing back up so as to land on his talons. A small dust cloud shot up as he landed, though neither kinshi nor rider noticed. Mei drew her lance off her back, keeping it in her right hand, while maintaining a grip on Sora's reins with her left. Whatever was going on, she had a bad feeling; having been in a scuffle or two, Mei could tell when something was about to go down. Whether she needed to get involved or not, though, was the question.
Suraya, hearing Hrist's song, smiled. If she can hold out long enough in combat against these fools, then she might be able to walk out of there unscathed. She was fast, but she could hear that the mercenaries were faster.
She reached into bag, taking out her Fire tome. "Why can't you fools just leave me alone?"
The pink haired girl suddenly stopped and readied her magic in her palm, turning her body to direct the attack at the men.
"Scatter!" One of them shouted.
The three dodged mercenaries threw themselves to the side, narrowly avoiding Suraya's red arcanic circle that immediately burst into flames. As she prepared for another attack, the bowman quickly readied a net interlaced with a rippling darkness Suraya couldn't make out while the ax and sword mercenaries watched her carefully.
Suraya gave a flourish of her hands, sending down a large fireball at the men to forcibly separate the group.
However, before the next attack could be dealt, a dust cloud emerged and a thud sounded. She looked over to see a large kinshi and a rider on its back. Suraya wasn't sure if this person was friend or foe, but then again, she loved it when things got interesting~
"Is that a bird?" Naira mused aloud when a gust of wind and dust heralded the arrival of an interloper, the distraction costing her a speedy mount onto her horse's saddle: said horse stopped at the girl's side to nudge her with her face, bringing her back to attention. Of course, since Naira wasn't the target of these hired hounds, her sense of urgency may have been momentarily misplaced.
Once in the saddle, that changed. With staff in hand, she rounded the corner with a mighty gallop, neatly crossing into the fray in the midst of the pursuers' dispersal. A quick glance revealed the presence of a few warriors, an archer, the large bird-rider, and a number of unarmed onlookers fascinated by Ms. Suraya's
encore. This was Escape Tactic One: a flashy showdown that encouraged audience participation, and ended with a dramatic exit.
And, thinking better of charging down the trio with only her staff to back her up, Naira called out to their audience, "Alas, the caliphate approves not of our showing! A desert rose belongs amongst the sands,, or so they should have us all believe, but she would wilt under the constriction of such conviction, as even a tiny net such as that one carries with it a death sentence! But not this day! Spare us the honeyed promises of your masters, for we see the poison they conceal!"
One of the peasants coughed.
Another one shrugged. "Your friend commands a mighty inferno. I doubt a rope net should hold her for long."
A child giggled. "Just stomp on them with your horse, you don't need our help!"
Mei narrowed her eyes as the woman's attackers showed themselves.
Mercenaries. She watched as a fireball forced the men to scatter, though she knew it would not be enough to chase them off. Just then, the other woman appeared, this time atop a steed of her own. As the mercenaries gathered themselves, Mei surveyed their equipment. She especially noticed the archer among them, suddenly feeling wary. Archers gave soldiers of her particular brand...problems. All the men were seemingly armed to the teeth, though, meaning they came prepared for a fight. The two women, however, appeared to be on the defensive. And from the rather...
theatrical display that she'd just witnessed, they were in need of help.
Her mind was made up right then.
"Leave the peasantry out of this," Mei spoke, pulling on Sora's reins. At that, the kinshi took flight, hovering roughly ten feet off the ground. "I'll help you both, if you can handle that archer."
Out of the corner of her eye, Mei noticed the mercenaries had finally recovered. Her eyes moved between the two women, though her expression remained calm. The two women
should listen to her...if they had any sense, that is. Of course, that was a rather dangerous assumption. Still, there was no time to discuss the matter further; one of the mercenaries, armed with a sword and shield, was making a charge right toward her. Sora reared upward as Mei flipped her lance around, ready to strike. Suddenly, he dove back down toward the mercenary, while Mei struck out toward him.
"Oh I love it when things get interesting!" Suraya giggled a little then readied herself for another attack.
She opened her tome to a marked page and readied her magic. The crimson mist flowed from the pages to her ready fingers, becoming hotter with each second. The ax mercenary was making a charge for her while the shielded one was making a dash for the bird woman. She wasn't sure if they had a strategy in mind, but that was the least of her worries.
The bow man behind his friend was readying up to attack their new companion.
Suraya reacted quickly, deciding that she could take a punch if it meant keeping the pretty bird alive.
With the magic at the ready, she launched another fireball. The ax man had covered his body with the large ax he carried, however there was no impact. The magic zipped past the ax wielder and flew towards the bow man.
"Fadel, watch out!" The ax mercenary called out to his friend.
The bow man quickly saw the magic incoming and threw himself out of the way, taking some scalding damage to himself and to the bow.
The ax man moved to shove Suraya with his weapon though the dancer did her best to leap out of the way. The mercenary swung his ax, though he was using the flat edge of the weapon to try and knock her over.
Having successfully pressed the flyer into service through somewhat roundabout means, Naira returned her attention to the skirmish, surprised that it was only these three in the fray even now. That the trio even appeared to ignore her presence rather than remove her was a boon in itself, especially when the archer dove to the side. With the archer momentarily prone and the swordsman engaging their new ally, Naira tugged her steed's reins to the side and nudged her feet into the horse's ribs.
"Clear a path," the girl whispered as she leaned down, from a trot to a full gallop, straight at the axe-wielder in front of Suraya. Then, just as she was about to crash into him, the mare tugged to the side and Naira drove her boot into the warrior's skull, speeding right past him only to slow down and turn around, ready to either continue the charge, withdraw to use her staff, or pull Suraya into the saddle and flee at a moment's notice.
Among the civilians, the child and the man in glasses cheered.
Suraya leaped out of the way of the horse in time for the axe wielder to get a boot to the head. Though Naira had done a good bit of damage to him, the axe mercenary got back up and picked up his weapon quickly.
"Damned brat; Just go to your mother already!" The man exclaimed at Suraya moving in to charge after her again.
Suraya tried to get out of the way again, doing her best to try and get her distance but the axe man stubborn to keep close. "Why can't you just leave me alone instead?!"
The bow mercenary, this time, aimed his arrows at Naira. He shot one, then another, and another directed towards the green haired woman, careful to not hit his comrade.
The sword mercenary moved his blade to swing not at Mei, but at her kinshi's head first then at her. It would be easier to completely immobilize the soldier first before going in for the kill.
Mei let out a huff as the swordsman narrowly dodged her blow, so that she merely cut his arm. But instead of retaliating at her, he aimed right for Sora's head. She pulled hard on her kinshi's reins, causing him to rear up into the air.
"Dastard! Who do you think you are?" she shouted, her grip tightening on her lance.
At the very least, Sora was alive. How cruel, to target a foe's mount! If that was how this man wanted to settle their bout, then so be it. Mei pressed her heels in, prompting Sora to dive downward. She readied her lance, aiming for the mercenary's left arm. If she could render his shield arm unusable, he'd be quite defenseless. Overreliance on a shield made for a lousy fighter.
Taking a shot to the shoulder, Naira gave off a pained grunt: she'd been caught on the turnaround, but still ducked in time to avoid either of the other shots meant for her. Between that, and the swordsman having issues with being cut down like the rabble he is, Naira considered her retreat. Evidently, her boot was not enough to subdue the axe-wielder either.
With Suraya trying to escape her assailant, Naira nudged her horse in the same direction and gave a light kick, gripping her staff with an injured arm and charging forth once more. When the girl drew nearer to her companion, she leaned to the side with her good arm outstretched, ready to lift the noblewoman into her saddle.
"Grab on!"
Suraya reached for Naira's hand and leaped upwards, clinging onto the horse for dear life. She, with the help of her friend, adjusted her seating onto the horse.
"Follow us if you can! And thanks!" She yelled at the woman on the kinshi, readying up her magic before shooting another fireball at the swordsman to give Mei a chance to escape. Suraya would also have to work against the archer unless they wanted problems.
Wincing from the arrow, Naira lowers herself down the moment Suraya made it into the saddle, guiding her horse toward the bowman in their retreating gallop. Each bounce brought the duo a moment closer to escape, or a moment closer to their doom, but the man was just slow enough on the draw that he was forced to either dive out from Hrist's path or be trampled.
As he dodged, the local onlookers whistled.
The ax man cursed "Damn! Move! Grab the horses!" He commanded his friends, rushing to try and follow the girls.