[Mara] Mara was busy listening to Traveler, to pay much attention to Moiran at the moment. She stood there, nodding in agreement that a show of strength or a good fight could get them enough coins to buy the supplies they would now need. "Who would want to buy a pair of flea bitten mules anyway," she thought. She happened to look up and saw Moiran floating over her before blurting out, "I've got an idea!" Throwing up her hands, she turned away. "By all that is holy! Your last idea almost got some of us killed," as she glanced over towards Traveler, but she listened to the ghostly apparition. The more the little Gnome spoke the wider Mara's eyes grew until she took a step back, pulling on a strand of her hair. "You know, you little runt, that just might work, but are you sure that these....mules can pull this off? I mean they don't look to be the brightest of the bunch. That does include you, you know..." Walking over, she stood and stared at the mules for the longest time before smiling, a sparkle of mischief could be seen in her eyes when she looked back. "I'm hungry!" [Moiran] Finally! Some sort of rational thought from the elf maiden, even if it was laced with sarcasm. Moiran ignored the insults and turned to Socks. "Would you be so kind as to nip her right hand? She seems to think you're dumb." Socks complied immediately, biting down playfully at the fingers of the appropriate hand. "Huh," Moiran said as Mara squealed in pain. "I guess we're not as dumb as we look." [Traveler] He looked expectantly as Mara was obviously talking with the ghost thing again. He hoped. When the mule bit her hand he stifled a laugh. "Well, What are we going to do?" He asked with a smirk [Moiran] The little gnome rubbed his hands together and answered, in spite of the fact that he knew full well Traveler couldn't hear him. "We're going to make some money!
[Hellonicus] The sunlight burned. Not his skin - his body prison was well suited to walking about in the full light of day - but it burned through the eyes, the only place the accursed brightness could touch Hellonicus personally. The Shadowlord was making good time, but the continuous light of the open plains was draining him. He needed to rest. The small farm he discovered over the next rise would do nicely. The closer he got, the better he could see. The farmhouse was relatively new, the fields recently planted. He could just make out the sounds of horses in the small barn, coupled with the rhythmic sound of a hammer falling. He stopped to watch. A few moments later a man emerged from the barn with a recently repaired hoe in tow. He was young - no older than twenty years. The man went to work on a small plot near the house - most likely a garden. Hellonicus was about to go down when the door to the house opened and a woman - a girl really - of no more than seventeen years came out into the yard. She held a large wooden pitcher in one hand and cradled a small, bundled form in the other. The woman made her way carefully to the man, who stopped his work to watch her approach. He took the pitcher from her with a smile and drank deeply, then handed it back. He took a short moment to admire the little face peering out from the bundle and kiss his wife, then turned to go back to work. What a precious little family. This was going to be fun. Whistling merrily, Hellonicus began his descent to the farm.
[Moiran] The ghost led the group up to a suitable looking establishment. Mara had explained the plan to Traveler on their way into town and was now following him, leading the two mules. Socks would get frisky occasionally and nip Mara on the rump, but Petunia would promptly scold her and she would stop her antics, for a few minutes at least. Moiran stopped before the Hollow Leg Saloon and gestured to the post out front provided for the animals. "This looks like a good place." He glanced around, rubbing his hands again. He had been doing that a lot on the trip here. "Now, do you need to go over the plan again, or do you have it down?" [Mara] Mara was enjoying the walk towards town. The heat of the day didn't bother her as much as she thought it would, but being nipped by one of the mules did. "Once more and I will be having mule steaks for supper tonight," she warned Socks, but it seemed that the mule paid her little mind for as she turned back she would get nipped once again. Her thoughts were on the game that she was about to play. So strong were her thoughts she didn't notice that they were standing in the center of town until Moiran stopped and spoke. "Well....I think I have it, but you'll be there to help me. I'm still having trouble with what beats what. You said that two of a kind beats a pair? A pair of what?" She was getting more confused the harder she thought. [Traveler] He listened intently as she told him what the little Gnome had told her and decided it was close enough to what he was wanting to do to go along with it. "Mara, do you have any clue how to play poker?" he watched as her face turned blank for a moment. "It's a card game..." Her face lit up for a moment and then went dark again. "Ok Mara look," He drew in the dirt the various cards in a deck, and began to explain what she needed to do. After a little while he decided it was doing no good, she had reached her limit. ~This would be so much easier if I could hear that God forsaken Gnome my self.~ "All right, let's go. We're going to need to find some unsuspecting idiot to pawn these mules off on." He turned hoping he was facing the Gnome and said, "We don't need to push our luck too far, She needs to loose a hand or two or we'll get strung up." ~Well I guess we're going to get our exercise one way or the other!~ "While I check on selling the mules why don't you two check on the fight games. They should be starting any day now. If Mara doesn't win enough we can pick up same cash there." [Moiran] The dead alchemist took a moment to comfort the mules. "Now, you girls be good for Traveler and for your new, ahem, that is, TEMPORARY new master. I'll be by later to help you out." Petunia gave him an indifferent look, but Socks bobbed her head in understanding. Moiran favored her with an affectionate smile. "I wish I could rub behind your ears. You're being such good sports about this. Go now, I'll see you soon." Moiran watched Traveler lead the two away. His heart lurched into his throat. (Funny, he mused, that the feeling still existed in spite of the fact that he no longer had a heart or a throat.) He hoped fervently that they were not making a mistake here. In spite of his sometimes flippant attitude towards them, he really cared for those mules. He turned and pushed the thought from his mind. He would take care of them later. Right now, there was money to be made! If only he could be sure that Mara had fully absorbed Traveler's instruction on poker. He could see her still trying to set things straight in her mind. "Come on, Mara. Let's go inside the Saloon and see about a game." [Mara] Mara watched in amazement as Traveler sat her down and tried to explain the game of poker to her. Never even having seen a deck of cards, let alone playing the game of poker, she spent her time nodding her head. But her assassin side of her was taking everything in. Every word, card and what each one represented. If there was trouble, she would bail the weaker side out, by hook or by crook. Of course the younger, child side of her was just enjoying the look on Travelers face as he drew the cards in the dirt. She liked the pictures that he was drawing. She was sorry to see him soon leaving with the mules, worried that they would be sold and never return. "Try to find them a good home," she called out, only to sigh as she looked up towards the gnome. "Traveler wanted us to check out the fight games first, didn't he? I think we should do as he said." Reaching up she tried to take Moiran's hand, but hers passed right through his. "Oh dear! Well you can just follow me then. And be quiet someone might be able to hear and see you. I'm not going to spend my time trying to explain you to them. So come on!" With that said she went in search for the fight games. She had to ask where they were being held, ending up in the town square looking at a tall platform that had been roped off. The floor looked to be padded, and each post that sat in the corners were padded where the rope wrapped around each one. But the wooden posts were bare beyond that. "What do they do in there?" she asked. [Moiran] "No, wait!" He tried to stop Mara, but she moved off so quickly that he had to rush to be after her. "Darn that girl, why can't she ever listen. Fight games, indeed." He caught up with her as she surveyed the fighting ring. "They fight. Duh!" Moiran looked around and discovered the fight schedule posted on a placard near the ring. It read:
TODAY - OPEN CHALLENGES
CURRENT POT
People were already beginning to filter into the stands and a line of challengers was forming. Each was as big as an ox with a barrel chest and large muscular arms. Moiran overheard a nearby bookie posting odds for the first man in line. "10 to 1 in favor of the Champ?" he whispered. He took another look at the behemoth at the front line. "If the challenger looks like that, I can only imagine how Bruiser must be!" He returned to Mara. "Look, this is great and all, but it's a little out of your league. Let's just head back to the saloon where there's less chance of being crushed by some muscled ignoramus. By the time Traveler returns we'll have made a tidy some without any bruises to show for our effort." [Mara] Mara's eyes shifted red once again as she looked up, her voice carrying a bit lower than before. "No! I am stay here, to see who or what this one called Bruiser is. I wish to see him in action. Do not mess with me Ghost, for I am in no mood for your games. If you must do something to pass your time, bet on whom ever hits your fancy. You must have some powers built in that body of your that is yet to be explored. Didn't they give you a book or something to read? If so...Then read it!" Finding an empty seat, she stared long and hard at the man sitting next to her, as a low growl erupted deep within her throat, until he became nervous, quickly leaving to find a more suitable place to watch. "I will wait here! For Traveler to return." [Moiran] *Pean-brained, stupid elf!*, he thought. Bet?!? How was he supposed to bet? They had no money in the first place. That was why they where here! And who would be able to see him? And how was he supposed to move the money without a physical body? A book indeed! As if the choice to remain as a ghost came with an instruction manual! He held his tongue, sensing that Mara was closed to any further argument. *Of all the stubborn, MULE-HEADED, numbskulls*, he thought as he floated to the back of the grandstand. *Maybe Traveler should have sold HER! Then I wouldn't have to put up such idiotic notions.* Still... Maybe Mara had a point. It was buried deep in the middle of a stream of nonsense, but it WAS there. There might actually be some undiscovered abilities that went along with this form of his. Talking with animals was certainly something he had never done before. What else might he be able to do? Moiran made a mental list of all the things he had ever heard being attributed to ghosts, specters, apparitions, poltergeists and the like. It was much longer than he had expected. He found a quiet spot, away from the hustle and bustle of the fight ring and began to plan out in his mind how he could test out these possible powers. [Traveler] As he walked away with the mules he looked them over and decided he would get a better price for them if they were cleaned up a bit. He walked them to the stables and talked the stable hand into letting him brush down the mules. After he had spent a few minutes trying to brush the mules and keep from getting bit he decided he'd have to settle for selling them the way they looked. He walked out of the barn and asked a different stable hand if he knew if someone was looking for a good work animal. The boy looked at him for a moment and pointed down the street towards the market area. ~I could have guessed that much!~ He walked the mules down the street looking at the various wares and stalls till he came to a large man with a wagon. The man eyed him for a moment before asking, "You selling those mules, or are you enjoying their company?" The man laughed wickedly for a moment. "I'm selling them, but you're not buying them. You're a lily livered idiot." He watched the man's reaction to what he said. The people around them snickered, someone guffawed. The man stood there for a moment as his rage built his face turned more red. The man suddenly lurched forward with amazing speed. Traveler had just enough time to sidestep the man and hit him in the small of the back with his elbow. The man fell nearly all the way across the road. A considerable crowd began to gather. Traveler eyed the man as he rose again. He heard someone on the crowd setting odds. They were betting on them. The large man decided to speak again, You obviously don't know who I am do you, _little_ man?" "I have no idea, and I don't really care either." "Most people call me the bruiser. You're about to find out why." The people opened up a circle around the men, Traveler handed the reigns of the mules to a spectator, and asked him, "what are the odds?" "Mister let's just say they're not in your favor." "Take the mules and tell whoever's taking bet's that I bet them on me." Bruiser took that moment to rush him. He was able to dodge the rush, but bruise caught him with a back swipe that cause Traveler to stumble into the open. Now, he was ready for bruiser to try that again. He looked into the crowd and found the man with the mules talking and pointing in his direction. Satisfied the bet had been placed he readied for the next round. Again, Bruiser rushed him, this time Traveler rushed towards him at the same time. Bruiser was caught by surprise by this turn and came up short. Traveler didn't stop. Bruiser smile as he waited for the _little man_ to rush headlong into him, only Traveler didn't. At the last possible moment he jumped and drove his foot into Bruiser's rather large mid section. Traveler heard the telltale rush of air as the wind was knocked out of the big man. Traveler caught himself and the crowd cheered. Traveler stroked his beard and waited for Bruiser's next move. The man's face was contorted with pain, and he dropped to one knee for a moment. Then his head snapped up and he smiled, he smiled. Traveler realized this was not going to be easy...
(to be continued...) |