The bed in the tavern wasn't the softest, but Vega didn't mind. Anything was softer than the hard ground in her eyes. And warmer... and protected from the elements... and soft...
She sat up quickly, feeling herself beginning to drift off. No, not yet, she told herself. She still had some business to attend to before she would allow herself to sleep.
She decided to let her pokemon out on the bed with her for some company while she waited. She sat cross legged in front of the two, her warm wool leggings pulled tight from the motion. She sighed, once again wishing her backside was smaller, for just sitting like that pulled her pants uncomfortably against her sides. She readjusted herself, sitting sideways on her hip, legs angled beside her.
Sue had immediately settled herself once more onto the egg, her little wings curled beside her body, which appeared to be settled on a little cloud. She tweeted and twittered at Lucky, who sat still (no surprise) and listened.
Vega couldn't help but smile at her little clan. She was still itching to find out what resided within her egg, but knew it would be perfect, her father always knew the perfect things to get her.
She needed her next capture to be something scary and... big. Big enough to keep her safe, or to scare away whatever could put her in danger in the first place. Something dangerous itself that she could trust would be okay on its own.
As she thought to herself, she absentmindedly reached out to pat Lucky. Her shell was as hard as a rock, and smooth like metal. She came back to realty, admiring her starter pokemon, who had evolved so quickly. Trying to impress me, she realized, suddenly becoming sad. Her starter pokemon, that she had treated so badly at first, was trying so hard to make her trainer proud...
She leaned over, hugging her metapod suddenly. "I'm so proud of you," she told her bug type, promising herself that she would never again judge any pokemon based on appearances or typing, but on heart and dedication. Just as any Normalcy should. Pokemon shouldn't be labeled based on their type, but on their skill and courage. Vega smiled to herself, knowing that she was perfect for her Sect, even if Normalcy wasn't an official one itself.
There was a sudden knock at her door. She stood, suddenly becoming nervous, and headed over to it. She unlocked the door, pulled on the handle, and with a crunch, pulled the aged wooden door open. A young boy stood in front of her, looking down at the ground, shifting his weight back and forth between his feet.
He held a wooden box out in front of him, still looking at the ground. "Here you are, my... my lady," he stuttered. Vega grinned. She leaned over and kissed him on the top of the head. Even with his face angled down, she could see how red his face became.
"Thank you, young man," she said sweetly, tousling his hair. He lowered his face even more, and nearly sprinted back down the steps to the bar level.
Vega laughed to herself and shut the door once, heading straight over to the vanity with the large mirror. She set down the box and opened it to inspect what lay inside.
Everything she needed was there, which wasn't surprising, since she only needed the basics. she ignored the cheap creams and salves, 'magical' pendants and such, and pulled out the scissors and bandages.
"Blu?" Sue twittered from behind her. Vega looked over her shoulder. Her pokemon were watching intensely, worried looks on both of their faces.
Vega suddenly realized that she hadn't even explained what was going on. She sighed frustrated with herself. Then, smiling up at her pokemon, she filled them in.
"I'm not hurt guys, don't worry," she clarified. Their expressions turned from worry to confusion. She sighed once again. "The tournament that I want to enter... only lets men enter. Apparently, they aren't satisfied with Our Lady's rule... blaming it on her breasts." She scrunched her face in disgust. "Well, we are going to show them that women can do much more than they think... and we'll do that by winning this thing." She looked over at her pokemon. "And that means..." she began.
She turned back towards the vanity and picked up the scissors. Holding them in her right hand, and a strand of her long, black hair in the other, she took one last long look at her gorgeous hair. "Goodbye," she nearly cried, and, squeezing her eyes shut, snipped the piece of hair off near her scalp. She felt like she was severing her soul from her body.
There was another knock at her door at this point, and she turned halfway, wondering who could be knocking this late. She wasn't expecting anyone... She looked herself over in her mirror, and deciding that too much damage hadn't yet been done, she headed to the door.
"Yes what is..." she began, but was cut off, as when she opened the door a man in black garb burst through into her room, shutting the door behind him with his foot. In one hand he held her hair in his fist, in another he held a knife.
"Pretty girl," he whispered dangerously, his stubbly face just inches from her own. "Where is all of your coin? Show me and maybe I'll let you keep your... Ow!"
"Blu!" screeched Sue, diving once more at the thief's head, becoming her angry cotton terror self again. She pecked him right on his forehead, swerving just out of reach of his now flailing hands.
"You have pokemon?" he spat, bewildered. He swung in an arc with his knife, missing Sue again, just barely that time. She banked and swerved, getting in between him and Vega. But this time, she wasn't as lucky. He forwent the knife, tossing it to the side, and decided on fists. He swung, nailing the little swablu perfectly and sending her flying into the wall, where she slid to the floor and lay still.
He probably would have had time to celebrate his small victory, if Vega hadn't been on him immediately. "You bastard!" she screeched, applying every bit of combat training she had learned on the farm to the villain in front of her. She threw a punch lightning quick, popping him right in the nose. She felt it crack against her fist. All around her, she could see Lucky's string shot hitting the walls, desperately trying to hit the man without hitting Vega herself. Vega swung again, this time hitting his throat.
He swung back, and she ducked low, this time going for his genitals. In two moves, she landed a swift punch and kick to the groin, and when he fell to his knees, spun 360 degrees and, swinging her foot with her, landed a kick to the back of his head. He collapsed, unconscious.
Immediately, she ran to Sue. Still breathing, but unconscious, she knew that her flying type had simply been knocked out. Optimistic, but still worried, she returned her poor bird to her crystal.
Lucky was busy wrapping the thief in a string shot cocoon. When she was finished, she left only his head free, binding his arms and legs. Vega sat him up against the base of the bed and took a good look at him.
He looked to be in his mid thirties, and gruff as could be. Dark brown hair, and patchy facial hair, sunken in eyes and prominent cheek bones... she made sure to memorize these features, in case she ever met him again.
She left him leaning against the bed, while she finished her job. She needed to get Sue to a healer as fast as possible, and so she wasted no time with her work. She quickly cut the rest of her hair down to size, leaving it a choppy pixie cut. She looked herself over in the mirror. Her hair and face looked fine, she could pass those off as a feminine boy, but her body... She turned sideways. Her breasts were no problem, she could easily tape them, but her backside... She never realized its size would be such an issue.
It didn't help that she had on skin tight wool leggings, which only seemed to amplify her frame... she needed baggy pants, but where to find them? She scanned the room... her eyes resting on her thief. Realizing what she had to do, she grimaced, but wasted no time once again. She took the bandages from the medical supplies and wrapped her breasts until they lay flat under her shirt. Then, she proceeded to cut away the string shot binds until she could remove the pants from her assailant.
Once they were off, she held them up. They didn't smell the best, and could have used a laundering. But, they were bulkier, some kind of armor, helping to hide her figure, and her size as well, and were the best she could have asked for, especially being black. She tugged them on over her leggings, and looked herself over once more.
She could barely recognize herself, and she prayed that was enough to help her succeed. She felt through the pockets of the pants while Lucky retied the man, now in his undergarments only. She found a key in the front left pocket, identical to her own room key, with the number 213 branding it. She gripped it tightly in her hand, and gathered her things, returning Lucky and shouldering her bag. As a last thought, she opened her pouch of coins, and put a silver piece on top of the cocoon, thanking whoever had to clean up her mess. She put her own room key next to the silver, and left the room as quiet as possible, cradling her egg.
She made her way down the hall, silent as she could, until she reached room 213. She figured that, he had tried to steal her stuff, and had knocked out her pokemon, it shouldn't be a problem for him to 'loan' her some things. She gently slid the key into the lock, and twisted, popping the door open with a loud crunch. She flinched, and glanced around, but the hallways were empty. Everyone should have been sleeping at that hour in the first place.
She slipped into the room, not bothering to close the door for fear of making more noise, and she began to search through his things. She found several changes of clothes, a pair of black boots, which she quickly exchanged for her more feminine shoes, and several other meaningless things. She found some copper pieces on the dresser, but had too much heart to take what little coin he had. She began searching the drawers of the dresser instead.
In the top left hand drawer she found some useful items. Most importantly, were two daggers that looked to be very finely crafted, with obsidian leather handles, and holsters that clipped right onto her belt. She took those without a second thought, knowing that most men carried weapons, and that she was bound to get into more trouble in this life anyhow.
Not much else in the room was of use. She found a few trinkets, clearly things he had stolen. She did take one of the necklaces that clearly he had 'borrowed.' It was a black chain with a silver eight pointed star on the end, with a diamond in the center. She hung it around her neck, tucking it under her shirt.
She took one more look around the room, making sure she had gotten what she could, and then turned to leave. She faced the open door, but saw something behind it that looked like a figure, between the door and the wall it was nearly touching. She crouched, cautious, and unsheathed a dagger slightly. Reaching out slowly, she counted to three in her head, and slammed the door shut, leaping back before whatever it was could get her.
But it wasn't a figure. It was something that would become more important to her than anything else. It was a black cloak. She sheathed her dagger, standing slowly, and paced over to the midnight cowl. She unhooked it from the door, and brought it down beside her. The fabric went down slightly below her knees, and seemed to absorb all of what limited candlelight was within the room. It was long sleeved, each sleeve billowy and wide, seeming to blend in with the body of the cloak itself, with a forbidding hood that seemed to gape open into impenetrable darkness.
She took her bag off of her shoulders and put it on, sliding her arms into the sleeves and clasping the single black brooch near her neck, which pulled the front of the cloak closed, casting her entire body in shadow.
She pulled the hood up over her head, and it fell slightly over her eyes, resting on the bridge of her nose, casting her face in shadow as well. She turned towards the mirror and gasped. She stared at herself, and a cloaked Shade stared back. She backed up and stuck her hand out in fear, watching as the Shade in front of her did the same. It took her a moment to realize it was her own reflection.
She inched forward once again, after she realized that it was only herself that she was afraid of. The similarities to the Shades of legend that she had were uncanny. But, as she looked on herself, she became excited. This kind of air that she could possess with this appearance... could be beneficial to her quest. She smiled to herself, and watched a sinister smile appear on her reflection, being the only thing that could be seen beneath the hood. This only made her smile broader.
She put her bag on her shoulders, and turned once more to the mirror. But this time, she frowned. Her bulky bag filled with her comforts from home looked very anticlimactic on her back when compared with her obsidian cowl.
She thought... but didn't waste much time, thinking of Sue. She opened a drawer that she had earlier passed over, and pulled out a much smaller bag (also in black,) that laid more flat than her other one. She searched her old bag and grabbed just her map from Brad and her bag of coins from her mother, her tinder and flint, and some dried meat and cheese. Her yellow crystal from Jake was already clipped in her belt, along with three other red ones, and Lucky and Sue. She only took one other thing, her wooden ocarina in the shape of a crescent moon, to play when she became lonely.
She took this new bag and harnessed it in a cross-shoulder fashion beneath her cloak, refastening the brooch to hide it. Looking in the mirror once again, she smiled when she realized that it wasn't noticeable in the slightest.
She picked her egg up from the dresser, and was going to leave from whence she came, but heard voices in the hallway. Not only voices, but the handle to her door was jiggling. "It slammed from over here," said someone. "And it's jammed... I knew I had heard screaming and slamming around earlier, but I thought it was just the usual... But I must be wrong." The jiggling turned to full fledged struggling. "This damn door..."
Vega's eyes became wide, and she frantically scanned the room, her eyes landing on only one thing; the window. The door handle shook violently as she darted for the window, struggling to open it. Finally, it slid open, but not quickly enough. The door to the room opened, and behind her, all she heard were gasps and screams.
"A ghost! A ghost!" they said, and she turned to face them. Their faces changed from horror to awe and shock.
"A Shade?" one of them whispered.
Vega only stared for a moment longer, before swinging herself out of the window, and landing on the roof of the tavern.
It was nighttime, and she appeared flow between the patches of shadow and moonlight like she was part of them.
She searched for a healer.