Carrying On

Avis walked along the edge of the pier, kicking up the powdery snow as she went. It was freezing out, but somehow Avis didn't mind. She held a half frozen apple she had...acquired gripped in one hand and she  eaten a quarter of it already. The flickering lights of the Fisherman's homes shown a ways ahead of her, but where she walked, it was mostly dark. The ocean slapped against the shore in a rhythmic pattern, the only sound besides her own muffled footsteps.

It had been a few days since the meeting at the lodge in which time Avis had done virtually nothing. She'd stayed in the Northern Village just camping out. Of course, she considered leaving to another land but yet had remained stationary.

Avis paused in her snow-bounded trek to look to the East. It was far too dark to see, but she knew her homeland lay just beyond.
When was the time she'd been there? Years. Not since she was fifteen years old, after her family had died. Eight years.

But she had no intention of going back. Ever. There were other kingdoms to explorer, other lands to see.

With a sigh she turned her back on the East and made to continue walking and take a bite of her apple.

Then she froze, arm half raised. Sounds floated through the night air, violent sounds. She could hearing men yelling, what she could not hear, but they were clearly upset.

Avis didn't dare to move, but stood, listening, as the sounds grew louder. Slowly the muddled voices formed into words.

"--Please! No!" The first voice was high-pitched yet male. Whoever he was, he sounded terrified. "Please, I have nothing to give you--"

"Can it." A lower, rougher voice snarled and there was the sound of a sword being drawn. "We know you've had quite some luck fishing recently. And we believe some the profit who made belongs to us."

"Please, please, no." The sounded man pleaded. "I have no money. My daughter, she's just four, and I..."

"I SAID SHUT UP!" The seconded voice roared, making Avis step back. There was a sharp noise of someone being hit and a pained yelp from the scared man.
The second continued, "I don't care about your daughter. I just want my money. So you can give it to us or we'll kill you and take it from your limp body. How would your precious little daughter feel then?"

Avis could just make out their shapes ahead of her; two large burly forms and one smaller, shaky form.

"Please, please." The small man cried, now on his knees. "I told you i don't have any..."

One of the larger figures raised his sword baring arm to strike the scared man. Before she fully knew what she was doing, Avis was running towards the scene, her staff clutched tightly in her hand and her half-eaten apple forgotten in the snow.

"Hey!" Avis slowed as she neared the three men, adrenaline sparking through her veins. "Everything perfectly alright here?"

All three men jumped, not having noticed her approach...which was surprising as snow was not the quietest terrain.
Avis put on a fake yet warning smile, though the men could not see her face, which was good as her eye said "murder".

"That is none of your concern." snarled the sword baring man. Even in the harsh light, Avis could see how awkwardly the sword was gripped in his rough hand. Avis's fake smile turned to a real one; a sly one. This man had no idea what he was doing. She doubted he'd ever even been a in a real armed fight.

"Yeeeaaahhh...About that..." Avis stepped closer to the men, swinging her staff at her side. She made the movement seem casual, but she had a firm grip on the weapon and was ready to to spring into action at a moments notice. "See, it seems you are an asshole and i have a thing against assholes."

The men were now all looking at her with varying expression of confusion. The smaller man, who had been in the middle of being robbed moments ago, was still crouched on the ground and still looked terrified. The other two men had momentarily forgotten about him and were focused on the newcomer.

"Watch it, women." The fake swords man swung his weapon sloppily towards her. The blade wobbled ominously in his hand. "You looking to be gutted?"

"Not really." Avis walked idly to the left of the men, the 'swordsman' following her every move with his raised weapon. The sword was clearly too heavy for him for already his arm was trembling. "But you might."

"Shut up!" The man roared and pulled back his arm to strike. However, the motion was sloppy and ill-formed; all Avis had too do was step to the side and his pathetic lunge lurched past. She simply had to trap his outstretched arm between her staff and wrist and easily knocked the blade from his grasp. The rusted sword fell with a muffled thud to the snow-bound ground.

The man stumbled a pace back in surprise, apparently not having expecting the move...the idiot.
Avis wasted no time in flipping her quarterstaff to her other hand and drove it into his stomach. The man buckled over like he was about to retch.

"Well, that was pathetic." Avis sighed stepping back, through her wrist was pained for her disarming move. She'd deal with that later. She raised her staff to point it at the swordsman's companion. "Your turn, big guy."

The other man, who hadn't spoke a word, took a nervous step back. Through the dim light Avis saw him glance down at his friend still collapsed on the ground. He looked back up at Avis, taking a few more steps back before turning and running off.

"Hm." Avis looked back down at the winded man. "Your turn again then."

The man struggled to his feet, giving Avis a hate-filled glare, but was he too backing away as well. He proceed to call Avis a fowl name before turning tail to retreat after his partner.

"Wow. What wimps." Avis sighed, planting her staff in the snow. Her wrist was still throbbing, but other than that, the confrontation had gone better than expected.

Avis stood silently and watched the lumbering figures of the retreating men disappear into the night. She had a bad feeling that this would likely come back and bite her in the butt, but she was used to having enemies. That was just how life worked around here.

She un-planted her staff from the snow to lean it against her shoulder before turning to head off again. Before she could, though, a quivering voice rose in the night air.

"T-Thank you." It was the smaller man, now picking himself up from the ground. In the scuffle, Avis had actually forgotten he was there. "Thank you so much. How can I repay you?"

Then the reality of what she had just done hit Avis like a punch. Why had she done that? Saving random idiots was not in her job description...actually it was something she never did. There was nothing she could gain from such acts. So why had she just helped this poor, blundering fool?

"Uh, yeah, no." Avis found herself taking a step back. What the hell did most people do in situations like this?

"But...you saved me. Please, is there--" The poor man began, looking to her, but Avis didn't let him finish.

"Look, idiot." She snapped, glaring at him. When in doubt, start insulting. "I want anything from you. Step off. Next time you won't be so lucky."

Even in the dark Avis could see the man blink in surprise and offense. Without waiting for an answer, Avis whipped around and trudged off through the snow. Thankfully, the pitiful man didn't make to follow her.

As she walked, Avis felt the strange sensation of guilt riding up through her blood. Maybe she shouldn't have been so harsh to that poor man. He was only trying to thank her...But what did it matter? She insulted everyone and everything and rarely felt guilty about it. What was wrong with her?

I need to get out of here. she thought, shaking her head. All this cold, thin air was too much.

[EXIT]

(( OOC: 1395 words: 28 points. Requesting 10 Health, 9 in strength and 9 in endurance))

Approved.