That night, the group split to cover two potential sites for the bandits to attack. Sin went with Masrur while Ja'far accompanied Neela, despite her insisting that she'd be fine on her own. Secretly, she found this a hindrance since she did not want to expose her full powers in front of her hosts. May be as well, there could always be other eyes watching.
The nightly fog started to set in. If this group calling themselves the Fog Troop were to attack, soon would be the time. Idle chitchat gave way to alert senses. Neela knelt down and placed the back of her decorated right hand to the ground; the chain mail connecting her ring to her bracelet nestled into the dirt. Her back was to Ja'far to hide the soft glow it emitted.
She stood up stating, "There's a group approaching."
"Yeah, I sense it too…" Ja'far whispered back, eyes peering into the fog.
They faced the street as the fog thickened around them. Ja'far leaped up to the rooftops to gain a better vantage point. While focused on the group they sensed, a few of the normal sentinels were taken out one by one, the perpetrators concealed by the environment. When one of the assailants snuck up behind Neela, he soon found a dagger against his abdomen with her turned to face him.
"Surrender now and I'll let you live," she hissed.
While she took care of the guerillas, the main band entered the plaza. Ja'far easily bound them with his darted ropes before they could get to their goal of the treasury. The whole band was rounded up and Neela looked over them, trying to discern the leader. Off handedly, her fingers rubbed her right earring as she paced back and forth in front of the group. At this time, another trio entered the plaza. A woman and two men, all with dreadlocks and one with his eye covered up.
"Release our comrades," ordered the man at the head of the trio.
One of the captives shouted that the boss had arrived. Another shouted the name Cassim. A glint shone in Neela's eyes as she straightened up and approached the leader.
"Gladly," she oozed, much to Ja'far's surprise. "I'm willing to let all of you off with a warning."
"Heh, warning indeed," Cassim replied. He brandished a sword, warning her to keep her distance. "We will not back down from our goal."
She stowed her dagger and pulled out her saber. "Fine. If you do not wish to accept my generous offer, then I shall use you as an example."
They rushed each other and metal clashed. They swung and countered each other back and forth for a bit. Neela appeared to be gaining the upper hand as the captured band expressed their encouragement to their leader and shock at the fight. Neela circled her blade against his to disarm him. It looked like she was about to finish him off when another blade swiped at her, disconnecting one of her braids as she jumped away to avoid impact.
The two with Cassim that seemed to be named Zayneb and Hassan (judging from the group's commentary) flanked their leader. Neela glared at the trio as Cassim went to pick his sword back up. He gave her a smirk in response. The three closed in on her with their swords and she blocked from all sides. They did not give her much time for anything but defense. She jumped back further, casting a brief glance at Ja'far, who had his hands full of ropes binding the troop.
"So three on one is how you wish to do it?" Neela sneered.
"Anything goes in a street fight," said Cassim.
"If they share your fight, they share your fate!" Neela declared before sprinting towards them.
She dodged to the side to swirl behind Zayneb and hit her back with the flat of her saber. She shouted at Ja'far as she kicked her towards him so he could bind her while off balance. Neela then darted to Hassan, dropping to the ground to avoid his swing. Crouched, she swung her leg around to take his legs out from under him. She then pushed herself up towards him, shouldering his side to steer his fall towards Ja'far. She rolled and ended on one knee facing Cassim again. With her standing once more, he frowned at her.
Neela said, "Fortunately for them, I am lenient."
"And you expect us to thank you for that?" Cassim retorted.
He ran at her while she was still recovering from the energy burst that she had used to take out his comrades. He swung to take her head off but she managed to raise her saber a second before impact and block his attack. A glint in her eye annoyed him further as her blade guided the force of his to arch over her and almost leave his hand again, but this time he held on with a firmer grip.
"It's too bad you didn't realize who you were up against," she expressed, "I wager your skills arose from necessity, but only to the level needed to survive on the streets."
Cassim swung up from where she had left his blade shouting, "Don't act like you know anything about us, you spoiled noble!"
She stepped away from his attack, then ducked and came up under his arms, bringing her face up to his. She was so close they could smell each other's breath: his a rancid stench while hers sickeningly sweet.
"Last chance to surrender!" Her right eye glistened.
Aggravated, he shifted the hold on his blade and brought it in. Due to the limited movement of her being between his arms, it was a shallow hit, but effective in lodging across her lower back and prohibiting her from any movement without increasing the cut. She gritted her teeth against the pain, refusing to satisfy him with a scream.
Cassim scoffed at her, "I'll take my chances."
The cheers from the crowd drowned out her whisper to him as her eyes bore into his soul. He looked at her in smug disbelief. For emphasis of his advantage, he pressed his sword deeper along her back. Blood trickled down his steel and down her dress, stains expanding in bright red along the pure cloth. She was unable to maneuver her sword arm in his brutal embrace.
She glowered at her aggressor, "You said anything goes? So you would find nothing I do to you unfair?"
Cassim laughed, "What could you possibly do now except give up?"
To answer, she leaned into him and her knee sprung up, racking him between the legs. He released his hold on her as he staggered back, free hand cupping where she hit.
"Next time, I'll do that move with a blade," she warned.
He winced back. "Curse you! I'll make you pay for that!" Fueled by anger, he pointed his sword to her and sprinted forward.
In a flash, she rushed around him and he found his sword poking air while her saber was at his throat and her hand holding him by his dreadlocks.
She shouted to Ja'far, "Do you have enough rope for this one?"
"Just barely," he responded. He shot an arm towards them, the last few wraps around it unraveled and extended to tie up Cassim.
Neela sheathed her sword and walked back around to face Cassim. Her eyes closed and she inhaled deeply as her hand fully covered the front of her head chain, looking like she was supporting her head from dizziness. She then opened her eyes and looked deep into Cassim's.
"What is your goal?" she asked.
"Tch. Like a spoiled brat like you could understand," Cassim spat. "The government is out to get us. Taxing us to death and leaving us with nothing! We're just trying to survive! Whoever you guys are, you're just doing their dirty work for them!"
Neela straightened up and smiled. "Well, I think I understand plenty. Your desperation is clear: you commit treasonous acts without regard to your lives because right now, you think living the way you are is worse than death. You think you have nothing to loose, but I'm here to warn you that you do. Life can get much, much worse if you continue on this path."
She slipped her dagger out and touched the flat side to Cassim's face. She traced it down his cheek, under his chin and back up the other side. Her free hand held his neck steady while centering the tip of her blade towards his ear canal. Cassim clenched his teeth. He knew struggling at this point would leave more damage as she eased it in. Even in his stillness, it caused a mild cut along its path as she pressed it inwards. Further and further in, slowly. His sudden scream confirmed to her when his eardrum had ruptured. She pulled her weapon out and wiped the blood off with the hem of her skirt.
"Take care to listen well with your remaining ear," she hissed in a sultry tone before turning to Ja'far. She ordered, "Release the troop; they are free to go."
"Huh? What?" Ja'far blinked and couldn't believe his ears. "But we've captured them. We need to take them in."
"We both know what the government would do to them. Do you think fighting to survive is a crime punishable by death?"
"Well…no…But Sin had agreed to take out…"
Neela cut him off, "And I agreed to help if it was under my terms. I just showed them their actions are not without consequences." She gestured towards Cassim wincing under the pain of his bleeding ear. "Unless they want to start losing senses or body parts, they will vacate the premises immediately and go back to their normal lives, taking care of their families. With the threat of a life worse than death they'll think twice before thieving again."
Ja'far's grip on his ropes loosened as he reasoned with the decision before him. He looked over the Fog Troop and their terrorized faces. He imagined each man there a father with little kids starving at home. The few women among them most likely had families and loved ones they were fighting for as well. Neela swayed over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"If they stop their raids, then we have done our job, correct?" she stated.
Ja'far sighed in agreeance, "That would technically be correct." Their bonds slackened as he began to untie them, gathering his ropes back around his limbs.
The members of the Fog Troop stood and massaged warmth back into their sore arms. They looked at their leader for guidance. Would they leave or press on? By now, blood was streaming through the fingers Cassim had cupped around his ear. Hassan and Zayneb supported him under his arms and helped him to stand. His one opened eye met with Neela's pair and gave a death glare as his comrades backed him away out of the plaza.
The rest of the troop filtered out after them. When it was just Ja'far and Neela left, the latter shivered and dropped to the ground, practically hidden by the natural fog.
Ja'far gasped, "Hang on, you sustained an injury!" He ran to her and steadied her shoulder as he peered through the fog at her back.
She cast him a sideways glance. "I could use my cloak now if it's finished being cleaned," she joked weakly.
"I'll go get some bandages. Please don't move until we bind that up."
When he was gone, Neela touched her fingertips to the center jewel on her sequined head chain. "Heal my wound, Marbas," she spoke.
A glow reached out from the metal chain and bent around her figure, extending down behind her. The energy stroked the cut on her back, connecting the tissues that were severed. She cut off supplying magoi before it finished however. There was still a shallow cut left, but the main damage had been taken care of.
She slipped her arms out of her sleeves, lowering the back to grant better access for treatment. She clutched the front of her garments to her chest.
Ja'far returned and tended the remnant of the cut, commenting it didn't look as bad as all the blood had made it seem. She thanked him and pulled her top back on. With a lower guard since the danger had passed, their conversation was lighthearted to pass the time. They sat at their station until the fog had dissipated, sure that the Fog Troop would not strike again.