/=|= The Lost Raven =|=\
19
"A'Damsel' in 'Distress'."
"Look at this piece of work," said the first jerk, as his hand very audibly and loudly smacked Tira's tush.
Though she refrained, her first impulse was to whirl around and drive her elbow into his nose, then sweep the legs out from under his buddy just to be safe. But her training to always publicly appear as the feeble little girl overrode that impulse. She whirled around, and her hand swung wide for the typical girlish slap across the jerk's face.
The jerk's buddy, the bastard, laughed at his friend's red cheek as he pinched Tira's rear. Tira whirled on him, swinging wide but he caught her wrist and shoved Tira back into the Jerk who pinched her bottom too. She moved her hands behind her to shield her rear from their harassments, but then the bastard in front of her groped and squeezed both of her breasts.
"Stop it!" Tira snapped, turning so her back was to the bar (and her butt safely out of slap/pinching range) and she crisscrossed her arms over her chest. "Leave me alone!"
"Aw, you like it," said the jerk, (aka, the one she had hit), slapped her across the face with enough force to spin Tira around, and she collapsed into the bar, bent over so both men held her down and started spanking her. "You like it and you know it!"
"Stop! Please!" Tira pretended to beg. She squirmed and bucked, knowing their combined weight would keep her thoroughly pinned down so they could continue to have their way with her. If she really wanted to get free, she knew she'd have to use a precision blow (such as a elbow to their eye, or groin, or something) to induce a stun and allow her to land another precision blow on the other guy. But she let them do this to her.
And then miraculously, the Jerk disappeared and a loud crash was heard behind her. The Bastard let go and roared, "The hell think you're doing, chink?" Which was then followed by a loud crack, and then a scream, "Aaugh! He broke my nose!"
When Tira got up and looked at the scene behind her, the bastard lay on the floor holding his face with a steady stream of blood flowing from his covered up wound. The jerk rose up, as did his two buddies from the table, "You're going to pay for that!"
"We're gonna send you back where you came from!"
"But first we're going to break your face and fix your slanty eyes!"
Li Long wasn't impressed. He looked over at Tira who watched wide eyed like your typical helpless damsel in distress. "Are you all right?" He asked.
Tira nodded uneasily.
Li Long nodded, and in the blink of an eye he lunged towards the racist and in one fluid motion pulled out his nunchaku and, ahem, 'broke his face and fixed his eyes.' The man spun around from the force of the blow, blood spewing from his nose and mouth, and his eyes were now crossed from the ringing in his skull. He fell to his knees, and crumbled to the floor in a pathetic heap. Tira didn't know what that one word meant (she could guess, coming from these assholes), but whatever it meant she knew never to call someone it.
Then like clockwork, Li Long flew from obnoxious jerk to obnoxious jerk, making short work of them with his bare hands (not terribly impressive, considering they were pretty hammered to begin with). He used his weapon only to strike those who dared to use the 'c-word' which they eventually all did, and he knocked them all cross eyed.
"That's enough!" Roared a new voice from the door. The city guard had appeared. "You've worn out your welcome, stranger! And you're under arrest for starting a brawl. Now come peacefully—"
Li Long narrowed his eyes, sizing up the guards and gauging whether he could take these soldiers.
"No wait!" Tira stepped in front of Li Long, and pointed to the rude pricks whom abused her and whom Li Long put in their places, "They started it! They were going to rape me!" She turned to one of the barmaids, "You saw it!" Then she turned to face the barkeep and pointed, "You too! Tell them! Tell them these jerks left this nice man no choice! It's their fault!"
The room fell silent. The barmaid and barkeep looked at each other, then looked to the floor.
Tira stamped her foot and pouted, "Fine, if you arrest someone, arrest me. I started the fight. It's because of me it all happened."
She felt Li Long's hands on her shoulders, and he gave a gentle comforting squeeze. "You didn't' start anything. It's not your fault. It's theirs."
"She's right," the barmaid finally stepped up. "They were grabbing her and harassing her. They started it." Then she gulped and looked over to her employer … and gulped again.
"But they were drunk!" The barkeep defended, "They'd had a few drinks. They were just trying to have some fun."
Not surprised, Tira rolled her eyes. The in-crowd always got excuses and a free pass, meanwhile anyone they could write off as an outsider (either by dressing different or just looking different) was always at fault. Always.
"That wasn't just 'having fun'! What they did to her was wrong!" The barmaid answered.
"Quiet you!" The inn keeper snapped. "Quit taking sides or else you'll be working as a whore in the ghettos! Ya hear me, woman?"
Biting her lip, the barmaid fell silent. But still, she gave more a defense than most other people would give in this world, which made Tira smile.
"Fine." The leader of the guards said, "But we'll be watching you two. If you cause any other disturbances, you'll be spending the night in a cell. You got that?"
"Yes sir," Tira said.
And as the guards left, the inn keeper narrowed his eyes, "get your asses out of my inn! You're not welcome here!"
"But—"
"Now!"
As the sun set in the west, casting golden light across the land, Tira darted after a lone silhouette on the road. "Hey, wait up!" Tira, with her backpack of 'toys' slung around her back, caught up with Li Long at the outskirts of the town, heading (to her relief) towards the castle atop the mountain. "Do you mind if we travel together? I'm really sorry I got you kicked out of the inn."
"I prefer to travel alone," he said, never breaking his pace. "And don't fret. I do not blame you for what happened."
Tira stopped, and in a pitiful voice answered, "Oh … I prefer company, but …sorry."
Li Long stopped and sighed. "Come along, then."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Oh goodie!" And Tira hopped to life, skipping up to her new friend whose soul she planned to steal.
"I'm Tira. What's your name?"
He wasn't a talkative fellow. Conflicted introverted males usually aren't. But Tira persisted in questioning him, and her adorable chipperness and childlike curiosity eventually won answers from him. He told her his name was Li Long, and he lived a tragic life of lost love and near death experiences as though failure forever hovered over his head, waiting to doom his next step. He spoke of his now deceased wife, Chie, who cared for him after a mission turned disastrous, how she died at the hands of a swordsman whom Li Long vowed to track down.
"I'm sorry," Tira sincerely said, slipping an arm around the warrior and squeezing him in a timid hug. And deep down inside, Tira smiled … her plan was coming together. She walked closer to him, even tripped once so he would catch her, pretended to sprain her ankle so she could continue to walk with her arm around him for support. Slowly working her way closer, letting him get comfortable with her, so she could ease the burden of his heartache before ripping his heart out.
Darkness fell, and Tira insisted they rest for the night, complaining she couldn't go any further. Li Long insisted they push on for reasons he refused to share, but Tira knew anyway. The Arena coordinators would send assassins after him, but he didn't want to frighten her. However, after a little further, Tira pretended to crumble and whined that her ankle hurt too much to walk. Li Long gave in, scooping her up in his arms, and carrying her into the woods where they'd find a hidden safe spot.
He advised against a fire, and she conceded only if she could curl up next to him to fend off the cold, which he reluctantly agreed to. Tira marveled at his fidelity to his dead wife. For the past two hours, she'd worked her way closer and closer to him, and he never took advantage of it. Never a "slip" where he "accidentally" touched her, never an awkward touch. He helped her along with her faux-sprained ankle, sat beside her so she wouldn't be cold, but never a step further.
Good thing I got help. She thought, taking out two seemingly identical bottles from her backpack. "Look what I managed to swipe before they kicked us out!" And unbeknownst to Li Long, Tira handed him a marked bottle. She'd ever so slightly indented the cork with her fingernail, so she knew which one to hand him. "I figured dammit we paid for our rooms, and they kicked us out, so we should get something!"
Li Long chuckled, taking the bottle, but not uncorking it just yet. Of course not. That would be too easy. He had to take his time and piss her off because she had no patience and was filled with anxiety to take his soul, go back to Nightmare, and taste Soul Edge's tears again to get that feeling back (and avoid the bad dreams which withdrawal brought)! She shuddered just thinking about it.
"You okay?"
"Hm? Oh yeah," back in reality, she blushed, and searched for something to talk about. Something that would get him drinking, "Mister Li Long?"
"Hm?"
"Tell me more about this Soul Edge thing. I don't understand what it had to do with Chie …"
He sat, staring straight ahead for a long time, and then on a sigh, he uncorked the bottle and took a long thorough gulp …
It's about damn time!