A/N: Sorry for the wait. I tried to update before, but FF has been running weirdly all week. Not to mention the category changes…Plus I've been busy with the forums, writing, and just enjoying life :D
So without further ado, here's chapter two! (Hah that rhymed :P)
Chapter Two: A Rat from Port Caynn
The days leading up to and past Midwinter were much busier than the Dogs had expected. Despite the holiday, when the markets filled with folk and the streets of Corus became more crowded during the day, the streets were usually scarce of people in the cold winter weather after the sun set over the city.
However, this Midwinter, Evening Watch's duty was far from leisurely. The days passed as quickly as a foist could lift a purse off a nobleman's horse.
"Mithros' Shield," Tunstall cried one night as he tossed aside a heated cove in a tavern fight as Beka booted another one out the door, "these tosspots are comin' out of the woodwork!"
Beka couldn't help but agree. In the duration of those winter weeks around Midwinter, a lot of rough coves and mots seemed to have flooded into Corus of a sudden to cause trouble for the Dogs. Tunstall, Beka and the other hard-working Dogs didn't mind it as it made their shifts more lively, but nonetheless, they all considered it odd for it to be so lively.
When Beka would return home from her watch, she would fall asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. She was so exhausted that she didn't even care when Achoo crawled up onto her bed and fell asleep beside her. Plus, Achoo's body helped warm her own of which she was grateful, though she would never admit so to the bed-hogging pup.
The one good thing that came from her curst exhaustion was it caused her dreams of Rosto to cease- or, at least, she was so tired that she didn't remember them when she awoke, which was just as well. Those dreams came too frequently for her liking.
Over the length of those busy weeks, though dreams of him had stopped, Rosto's attempts to charm her had not. The rotten spintry still made it clear he wanted her. It didn't help that her ever-traitorous mind felt compelled to remind her of his warm kisses whenever she was cold, which was almost all the time, seeing as how it was winter.
Curse the man's warm, inviting lips, she thought now as she and Tunstall braced themselves against the cold of yet another freezing Watch. She pulled her light coat tighter against her body.
Seeing her from the corner of his eye, Tunstall remarked, "You should've taken the jacket."
Once again, Beka glared at him. He brought the topic up almost every watch. "I told you afore, Tunstall," she started, "I'd rather eat my own hand than take any of his hand-me-downs."
Tunstall shrugged, stopping at a stall to buy a few meat pasties. He handed one to Beka as they resumed their walk through the Night Market. "He put it in our Happy Bag," said Tunstall, biting into his pasty. "You know some other Dog would get it if we didn't claim it first."
"Well some other Dog can have it as far as I'm concerned," said Beka stubbornly. "Though you may take charity from the Rogue, it doesn't mean I have to."
Tunstall's eyes glittered, but he said nothing. He had seen the way their fair Rogue looked at her. If anyone would ask him, charity was the last thing on Rosto the Piper's mind when it came to the topic of Beka Cooper…
Seeing his knowing gaze, Beka looked away to survey the marketplace. She had never let anyone- especially Tunstall- know that Rosto had given her yet another jacket, this time for a Midwinter gift. It was simple-looking, but very warm and fitted just right to allow unlimited movement which was necessary in her line of work. He told her it was the kind of jacket worn in Scanra where it was much colder. She had yet to wear it, despite its lovely warmth. Beka didn't think she could bear to answer questions about where she had gotten such an exquisite, Scanran coat. Nevertheless, she had kept it hung near the door in her rooms, in case the weather became too much to bear- or, which was more likely the case, her senses suddenly took leave of her nob and she suddenly didn't care who saw her wearing it.
Every night when she left for her watch, it looked more and more tempting to slip on over her shoulders as the nights seemed to get colder and colder. It was as if Rosto had hired a weather mage to make it so, just to get her to give in and wear the jacket. It was for that foolish thought that made her leave it behind.
Shivering now, Beka cursed her stubbornness.
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a middle-aged mot screaming, "Thief! Thief!"
Beka and Tunstall located the mot immediately as she ran out from behind her stall and pointed at a figure that was quickly dashing away from the market. They didn't even stop to listen to the hysterical shopkeeper as they made their way after the thief, Beka in front and Tunstall right on her heels, both of their batons out as they ran.
The cove- from the look of his build- took them passed building after building, winding through back alleys and deserted streets, sometimes running in circles as if the cove knew not where to go. Seeing him turn into yet another alley, Beka and Tunstall followed, quickly discovering that they had turned into a dead end. Hearing them behind him, the cove looked wildly around. To her surprise, the cove did not look up to see where he could jump or climb up into a window as most Rats would do, but instead he looked to the ground as if searching for an opening.
Suddenly comprehension dawned on Beka. He was looking for an escape- in the ground. "Your search is futile, you cracknob," Beka told him, stepping closer with her baton. "There are no sewers in Corus, or did you skip that lesson in your training?"
The sutler spat at the ground close to her boots. "Eat scummer, y' curst cur."
"Unfortunately I do not share your choice in delicacies. Tell me, where do you come from?" she asked, though she already had a good idea where.
The cove narrowed his eyes. "T'ain't none of yer business."
"You're obviously not from here judging by the way you circled us around the city like a countrylad on his first visit to the city," said Tunstall in that friendly voice of his.
Growling, he replied, "You'll be busy enough soon wi' others so I would get used t' it if I were you, Dog."
This time Beka and Tunstall narrowed their eyes. "What do you mean?" Beka asked.
The Rat snorted. "As if I'd tell yer lot! I'm just tellin' y' you'd better be on yer toes. There'll be a lot more of us comin' if things keep up th' way they hav' been."
Tunstall was trying to push on when suddenly the cove broke out in a run, keeping close to the wall of buildings to run passed them.
Unfortunately for the Rat, Beka was right there to knock him across the knees with her baton. Unfortunately for Beka, he had pulled out a knife in his haste to get out of there and when he cursed and tumbled to the ground, he slashed out at her wildly, the knife cutting across her free palm. Then Tunstall was there pressing him down against the ground while he hobbled the cove's wrists and ankles.
Grabbing a piece of cloth, Beka pressed it to her steadily bleeding hand as Tunstall told the thief, "Leaving so soon? And here I thought we were just starting to become friends."
The cove spat out a curse as he struggled with his hobbles. They didn't give. Tunstall then hoisted him up onto his feet- which were tied just so that the cove could walk- and with a poke of his baton in the thief's back, said, "Come on, Rat. I'll show you the shortcut to the cages."
Beka followed, blood already seeping through her wrapped hand, but she was more distracted by what the Rat had said. What had he meant, there were more of them coming? And why were they coming from Port Caynn?
A/N: I hope you liked it! There's some good Beka and Tunstall Dog action for you :D
By the way, I'm not going to be moving this fic to the Beka Cooper category yet until we are absolutely sure that FF is going to keep the categories separated. As discussed on our forums, we think we should all wait instead of going to change everything over to the correct category. In short, we're rebelling against what FF's done to the Tamora Pierce Archive. :D If you have any thoughts you'd like to share on this matter of FF splitting up the archive, feel free to discuss it in the three forums I'm a moderator of- 'Beka and the Rogue', 'All Things DOM' and 'The Men of Tortall'. They're here in the SOTL category forums still and should be high up on the list. We have added separate threads to discuss the changes and have also copied our emails that we've sent to the site to ask to correct it.
ALSO: Tortallan Renegade has begun a petition you can sign to be sent to FF requesting they change the TP archive back to the way it used to be. A link is provided in all three forums!! (You can get to 'Beka and the Rogue' also by going through my profile. It's listed under my forums :D)
NEW: Navigator101 and I have also started a NEW forum! It's titled 'The Men of Tortall'! It's a place to discuss ALL your favorite men! From choosing what actors could play them, have debates about different characters/pairings, or just talking about them, it is a forum for just about everything! Just message me if you want me to send you the link!
Whew. That's a lot of stuff going on lol. Anyway, I hope to have the next chapter up soon. Thanks! :D