In which Catalina takes her first steps to prosperity
54th of Ymiden 716
Almund is a thriving township with a dark side. With houses made from the wooden bodies of decommissioned ships, there are many opportunities here, coupled with many dangers.
Catalina 'Raynarde' Devoe was a woman with a plan. She knew what that plan was and she was working towards it. One trial (and probably a fair few in the future, but that was alright, she could wait) she was going to be a Pirate Lord. With her own ship and her own crew. And in order to achieve this she had to do a number of things. She had to gain notoriety, so that when she led her own crew one trial, they would follow her. She had to be skilled in what she did, confident and assured (and she figured that she had the confident and assured part down pat already).
And right now, she had to deliver this letter to O'Rourke's.
Why? Because she'd been told to. Deliver the letter, collect the coin from Mad O'Rourke, bring it back and give it to the First Mate. It was a straightforward job, but Catalina was pleased with it. Because it was her first solo job. The first time that she'd been trusted ashore on her own with a job to do, so she was going to do it well. The Biqaj woman had been tempted to read the letter, of course, but she had refrained from doing so. She rather suspected it said something like "Giving this one her first job. Will want to know how she handled it" But maybe it didn't. Maybe, maybe not, but the letter was sealed and she saw no way to peer at it without the seal being broken. So best left alone and curiosity shoved to one side. For now.
So, the confident young woman strode through the streets of Almund, hat atop her head and frock coat flapping behind her. She had the air of someone who was going where she was going and was not about to be stopped. However, as she strode around a corner, there were a gang of three human males. She sized them up quickly, looking at them with disdain on her face, evident from the sneer. "You in my way. Move" she said, motioning to the fact that they were, indeed, purposely standing in such a manner as to block her movement. One of them spoke and, as he did and by his tone and demeanour, Cat considered that he would be the one she would kill first. "We don't wanna move. You've got to pay your fee. Maybe those nice earrings... " he motioned to the gold earrings that she wore and Catalina took that moment as her advantage. His hand was moving, gesturing and his attention was half on his friends. And so the young Biqaj woman moved in that moment. She dropped her hands to her swords; she wore two one on each side, and in a fluid movement she drew the blades.
By the time she did that, the three of them had begun to move and Catalina felt the familiar rush of adrenaline that a fight entailed. She was never entirely sure what gave her most pleasure in life, for so many things did, but she knew fighting was high up there. Her legs automatically moved in to the stance that she knew was necessary, her weight being distributed evenly and on the balls of her feet. Knees slightly bent and she gave the three of them a cocky grin as she stood, sword in each hand. The three lads looked at her and Cat recognised a moment of uncertainty in them.
But still, she was one person and they were three, so she had to be careful. However, she did not doubt that she was at least three times better than each one of them, so in her mind they were the ones that were outnumbered.
Last edited by Catalina on Fri Jul 15, 2016 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total. word count: 638
But they were three and they moved forward, drawing their own daggers, each one of them holding a long knife. Three blades to her two, she cosidered, three people to her one. Catalina smile and started to move backwards, just a touch. Then she adjusted the weight on her feet, leaning forward and she lunged forward, sinking her sword into the throat of the one who had done the talking. Catalina felt the slight resistance of the skin before it slid through and then the resistance stopped as her sword slid into his throat. He was dead, she knew it, her aim was true. But equally, she let out a curse as she felt the dagger from the lad on her right slice across her side. He had been aiming for a killing blow, but her movement had surprised him. Nonetheless, it was blood and she tried to never bleed if she could help it.
But now, she had the dying one on the end of her sword, and she twisted her wrist, hitting the one to her right, the one who had just sliced her ribs, square in the nose with the pommel of her sword. He let out a cry and blood started to pour out of his nose. The middle one, who thusfar had not reached her, aimed a stab at her throat. Catalina reacted on instinct, dropping to one knee, almost as though she was proposing to him, one hand staying up and holding the sword in the leader's throat, and she aimed her second sword into his groin. As he overextended above her, she buried her blade into him, feeling the hot blood pouring over her hand as he let out a high pitched scream.
She was bleeding from the cut at her side, but the three of them were out of commission. The one in the middle would live, but he was already dropping his knife and running, and honestly she didn't feel like chasing him. Instead, she pulled her swords from the two of them, extracting one from the groin of her would-be attacker, and the second from the throat of the leader. She stood and looked at the wound in her side, cursing as she did so, but it wasn't going to kill her and the other guys were worse, she considered with a smile. Then, she knelt next to the bodies of the two and cleaned her sword on them before searching them and stripping them of anything valuable.
And then she stood, kicked them off to the side of the road and quickly bandaged up her side as best she could, with cloth that she tore from their shirts not her own. Then she began to walk again, towards O'Rourke's, whistling as she did.
She got to O'Rourke's which was relatively quiet as it was still quite early in the trial.However, there were a few people sitting around in there and she glanced about, to make sure that there was no trouble and no one that she knew as she got there. But no, it was fine, and so she took a seat and waited for the serving boy or woman. Raeburn walked over to her and gave her a charming smile. Catalina looked at him and her expression was amusement as she spoke "I need to see Mr O'Rourke with message from Captain" she said, her accent thick and her eyes a deep violet. She had a mug of foaming ale while she was there.
After a few moments, though, once Raeburn had brought her drink and flirted a little with her, Cat spotted Mad O'Rourke making his way over to her. She looked at him and nodded her head "Diarnarv asked me give this to you" she explained and she handed him a letter. O'Rourke took the letter and read it, then glanced at her "You wait here, I'll fetch it" he said and Catalina nodded. Whatever it was. But 'it' was of no concern to her, she just had to get on and do what she was doing.
It took a few minutes, actually, which surprised her, but then after a few moments O'Rourke came back out and he put a bag down on the table in front of her. There wasn't the chink of coin in there, she wasn't aware of it having a lot of noise at all, in fact, but it looked heavy. "Keep it hidden. Move quickly. Do not dally" he said and Catalina nodded her head. That was fine. Mad O'Rourke watched her tie it carefully to her belt, buckling it and wrapping the tie in one of her scarves. She took the opportunity to tighten her black leather corset, also, holding in place the bandage she had made in a makeshift manner from the blow that she had taken from the three attackers. Unconcerned with that, O'Rourke stood back and nodded. "That will do. Go, be quick". Cat grinned at him, confidence oozing from her and she nodded her head "You should not worry. I will achieve" she assured him and she walked out of the bar.
She had the bag with her and it was well hidden. That was good, because it was not something that she wanted others to see. As she stepped out of O'Rourke's and into Almund proper, she walked with her usual confidence and self assurance. It was not an act, nor was it bravado. Catalina Devoe was immensely confident - it was a part of her make up and not a small portion of her personality. If she could not do something, then she simply could not do it yet. Give her half a break, and she'd already be better at it. The psychology of the young woman might use the words 'superiority' and 'complex' in the same sentence. Probably without the bother of any other words in between.
She moved through the streets and she did so with a sense of urgency that was unusual for her. The bag seemed to be heavy, somehow and she wondered once whether she felt what was in there moving.. squirming. But then, she cursed herself for a fool and a superstitious fool at that, and she just kept moving.
When she caught sight of the Royal Reaver she breathed out and made her way over to the ship and then up the gangplank. She caught sight of Jaque'vo and she breathed out again. Walking to him she gave him a grin "All done. I got it. You want it?" she asked and he nodded. Solemnly, she untied the package and handed it to him and he gave her brief grin. "Good work, Raynarde. Go get that seen to" he said, nodding to her side as though he knew that she was injured. Which, obviously, he did. She nodded her head and spent the next three trials wondering what had been in that small package.
How she would have reacted had she known that it was spices, which Jaque'vo wanted for trade with The Baker, who knew? But she was destined not to find out so instead she got her wound seen to and made up more and more outlandish exaggerations of this story for when she retold it.
Basic Knowledge
Blades: Stick ‘em with the pointy end.
Blades: Stance
Scalvoris: wandering alone can be dangerous.
Location: O’Rourke’s
Detection: The sound of coin.
Wounds: Moving with them makes them worse.
Specialised Knowledge
Combat: Throat is a quick and easy kill.
Combat: Three to one is fair odds against the unskilled.
O’Rourke: Works with discretion.
Jaque’vo: Trades in spices with the baker.
Rewards/Injuries
Gash on hip: 14 trials healing time, will need medical attention -2SN Mug of Ale
Comment
Interesting thread, you wrote the tone of the dark alleys of a pirate city well. I noticed Catalina's foreign roots were highlighted within her dialogue and I liked that touch. I gave you fourteen trials healing and it will probably need medical attention for a few stitches. You will need Tidal to approve any monetary gain that you may receive from this job. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.