“But, you didn’t deserve it! Did you?”
Once again his face held that hint of fear for the answer. A worried suspense.

In the background of the boy, the tavern was starting to look normal again. Quite oddly so. As if there had just been some small drunken brawl and not an ambushing battle with demons and the magically divine. Traces of the carnage were hard to find as the evidence slowly vanished.

The bodies remained, seemingly something that the shadowy magic of the tavern couldn’t conceal. A tall, bare chested, wide shouldered man, skin covered in tattoos, was hauling them up and taking them elsewhere one by one. He did it with a crooked smile and such nonchalance that he may as well been taking out the trash.

She sighed. ”A lot of people don’t deserve things that happen to them, kid. I’m not sure if I count as one of them.” Lavender replied simply, barely resisting the urge to pat the boy on the head with her free hand as she said this. Great, she grimaced internally, now I’m attached.

The fox-faced woman eyed the man who dragged away the casualties of the previous fight so casually. If he was able to do this with such nonchalance, perhaps entertaining scenes just like just now happen often? Lavender highly doubted so, but if it was true then she may have found a Tavern which could be a source of drama she could access- as long as she remembers where it is, of course.

Lavender lifted her fox mask once again to take another sip of wine.

”Wait! What?” the boy asked, dumbfounded by the response.
”You can’t really mean that, a lot of people make mistakes but surely it wasn’t that bad. Bad enough to have your eye carved out. What did you do?”
He had that worried look again. Like with his words he was walking into murky water and was afraid what he might find beneath the surface.

Just then.

One of the bulbous headed, white eyed, wiry shadow imps flew past Lavender. It’s long tail swaying behind it as it’s leathery wings furiously fluttered. It’s movement producing far less sound than you might expect. It’s oily dark skin fading into shadows and darkness as soon as it passed any.

It comes to land on a table not to far away, a table Lavender could swear was in pieces last time she looked. A crossbow bolt stuck up from the wood like a proud shiny flagpole. The little imp grasped it with its long claw like fingers and pulled... to no avail. It took a moment to secure it with both hands and really put its back into it. Still nothing. Finally it took to the air and wrapped its tail around it. It flapped and pulled, it’s little muscles bunching up tight, but it’s grip gradually slipped, and it stumbled around in the air.

The small mouthless creature frowned with its pale expressionfull eyes and slumped back down on the table in a contemplative defeat.

Completely unrelated to anything happening at the moment, intense fire in the sbape of an oblate spheroid would burst through the doors of the tavern, knocking away anything its in path with reckless abandon. When the dust settles, the bulk of the plasmic projectile would dissipate, leaving embers in its trail and a little girl dressed in casual clothes and shining with a radiant light in its place. Though it would appear as if she was just engulfed in the flame, she looked as if she was just settling down from a run, standing up straight and stretching her arms behind her back. Lastly, she would cutely yawn and glance about the place, curiously onserving the patrons.

Lavender shrugged. ”Literally everyone in my family has committed multiple crimes, including myself. It’s more..” The woman paused to think of something else. ”It’s more like a ‘my mother’s great great great grand parent decided to anger some spirit and the spirit decided to curse the family so the eldest child had to deal with one eye and a sapphire’ kind of mistake.”

Lavender glanced at the imp momentarily, but her attention was quickly shifted to the absolute chaos of an entry made by a little girl. She paused, then decided that she had enough drama for today.

"CrimeS?" Overhearing a bit of the conversation, the little girl suddenly transforms into a blur of light before suddenly facing Lavendet, slamming both hands on the nearby table and gazing at them with suspicion, "Your powers, I want to know 'em."

Lavender shrugged. ”Literally everyone in my family has committed multiple crimes, including myself. It’s more..” The woman paused to think of something else. ”It’s more like a ‘my mother’s great great great grand parent decided to anger some spirit and the spirit decided to curse the family so the eldest child had to deal with one eye and a sapphire’ kind of mistake.”

Lavender glanced at the imp momentarily, but her attention was quickly shifted to the absolute chaos of an entry made by a little girl. She paused, then decided that she had enough drama for today.

The young boy looked to be troubled, his deep green eyes reconsidering his opinion of Lavender. That worried look was quickly washed from his face when the doors suddenly burst inwards to force and flame and he was jolted forward into Lavenders table by the concussive force.

There was a loud ‘thud!’. “Bloody hell!” cursed the large tattooed man as his arrogant grin slipped from his face and he threw down one of the bodies he was carrying. He rolled his eyes at the sight of more work and let out an annoyed sigh.

Already shadow imps we’re flying to the site of disaster. While the fire struggled to maintain a hold on anything, the small patches that did were quickly stamped out by them.

When the reckless young girl came to slam her hands down on lavenders table, the boy staggered back. Stricken with confusion. He awkwardly twisted and reached at a discomfort on his back but was seemingly unable to get it. However his hands came back bloodied. As he turns, Lavender would see the foot long splinter of wood sticking from his back, blood steadily sinking into the clothes around it.

Lavender made a noise that sounded like a surprised yelp when the little girl slammed her hands down on the table she was at. The woman was even more surprised when she saw the splinter of wood but quickly regained her composture. ”Oh- oh my.” Lavender hurriedly rummaged through the pockets hidden inside her cloak and retrieved from within what looked like some potion and a roll of bandages.

”I would be glad to demonstrate on you, child. It’s rather rude to send people flying into tables.” She chided the little girl as if she only drew on the wall, setting down the potion and the bandages onto the table before she lifted a hand to light a finger aflame with her blue fire, doing the same thing she did when she threatened the boy. ”Kid- don’t wanna scare you but do you mind if I try and treat the wound in your back? Or you could get your boss or someone else, whichever you’re comfortable with. There’s a stick embedded in your back. And you’re bleeding.” Lavender grimaced as she turned her head towards the other child, extinguishing the fire that she lit her finger up with.

"Demonstrate?" The girl innocently tilts her head to the side, wincing in recognition of the boy's injury, but shrugging it off as she sees Lavender move to treat it. She takes a step back from the table, holding her arms up behind the back of her head and leaning back casually, "Alright, sounds good! When you're done with that, that is." She winks at Lavender.

“I’m, I’m what?” The boy stammered in shocked disbelief, wiide eyes twisting about to try see over his back still. Panic slowly settling in as the colour drained from his face.

”w, what is it? Get it it out. Get it out.” his voice was low but rushed, with a quiver to its edge as he fought to remain calm.

“Just do it please!”

He turned to face his back to Lavender and hunched forward, a gasp of pain accompanying his movement. The small patch of blood around the piercing splinter was starting to set in as it grew steadily more and more prominent, glistening in the torchlight.

A rather peculiar specimen made his entrance into the tavern next. In a manner comparable to a Centaur, two semi-autonomous bodies made up his frame. But with identical amalgamation of raptorial and feline attributes throughout both, this was an entirely different beast altogether. Frontal talons and posterior paws carried the creature forth; his silver feathered cranium perched eight feet above the ground as goldenrod irises scanned the area intently. Bronze colored pelage mostly made up the duo of frames over a well muscled physique. A robust mane of fur seemed to trail from the top of his head to the bottom of his underbelly. Similarly, what appeared to be a single extensive pair of folded wings was actually two separate sets lined along his backside

Tharraleos was the designation of this individual. Given his features, one could denote he was some kind of mutated Griffin of sorts. A nomadic wanderer of the world, he seldom stayed in one place for too long. His bodies were aching from traversing for so long without ceasing. It had been twelve days since he stopped for rest and he was certainly beginning to take its toll on him. After briefly losing consciousness while skybound he decided now was the time to replenish himself.

Approaching the counter, he'd situate his lower body in a sitting position on the floor while he leaned his weary bipedal torso forward to place his elbows on the counter. Releasing a prolonged exhale from the nares of his golden sawtoothed beak, he could already begin to feel relief from his exhaustion being at a standstill like this. His multitude of limbs and quartet of flight bearers were starting to scream at him less. Maybe he went a bit overboard, but he'd be rested up soon enough.

Lavender did not hesitate as she quickly tried to pull the splinter out. Swiftly she applied the potion as best as she could. Lavender hoped that the liquid would mend as much of the boy’s damaged internals like it once mended her’s well enough so she could get help.. ”The potion should help you for now, but proper medical attention is what you need. She pat the boy’s back as gently as she could. Lavender tucked the roll of bandages into an easily accessible pocket. She was not sure as to why she took it out in the first place, but she assumed it was just a habit.

”Okay, now it’s your turn.” Lavender turned her head to face the little girl. ”You’re not very good at detecting threats, are you?” Then, without another word, she proceeded to light her finger on fire once again and made a throwing motion. Instantly the floor boards of wood in front of the little girl were lit aflame with blue fire. Ah, arson. Her best friend through and through.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lavender made a mental note of the griffin-like creature.

@Griffintaur
Of all the people that could have served Tharraleos, it was Clay who did. A muscular human with tattooed skin. He looked like the type who enjoyed trouble, and he wore a near constant smirk that said he was either in trouble, about to be in trouble or just getting out of trouble.
He nonchalantly staggered behind the bar taking his time. Finally when his eyes came across the creature he stared hard and let out a long slow descending whistle with an abrupt stop.

”And what in the mongrels gut are you?” he asked with no gentleness.
”Get a lot of strange in here, infact that’s nearly all we get but never seen one like you.” he looks the creature over and stands up straight.
”What can I do you for?”

@aia2022

“Th, thank you.” he said.
His face had gone slightly pale but that seemed to be more from the shock.
He slid into the seat beside her.
“Just need a little rest, a little sit down. That’s all. I’ll be fine.”
His shallow breaths became more steady even as he spoke and he even managed to give a convincing smile as he took up an awkward position on the seat.

The blue fire reflected in his eyes as he stared at it. Unfazed by the damage it was doing to the tavern he worked in or the mess he would be left to clean up.

“So, your thing is fire then?”

@Dark Light

”No problem, kid. You should still get your wound checked out though. The potion I applied doesn’t work long term.” Lavender replied with a small smile beneath her fox mask.

She gave a small nod. ”Used to hate it but I learnt to live with it eventually.” She took a glance around, as if to search for glass of wine that had disappeared somehow. Lavender looked towards the floor near the spot where the planks were still burning, found the glass of wine and promptly picked it up and put it back onto her table.

The woman lifted her head to watch the little girl’s reaction. Surely the child wouldn’t be so oblivious?

@Dark Light

Initially falling deep within his own thoughts and damn near passing out from fatigue, he was promptly returned to reality by the abrasive server. The beast's piercing goldenrod irises would avert themselves to the man and instinctively began to study him. Tharraleos found his mannerisms amusing enough. Having 2 bodies mutated together like he had almost always invoked some kind of bewilderment. Tharr couldn't help but chuckle and grin awkwardly with his golden sawtoothed rostrum.

"I am flattered by such circumstances." the Tauric Griffin would respond with his borderline baritone vocals. While his articulation was sharp and somewhat betrayed his beastly exterior, the way his words seemed to erupt from him and tremble the surrounding area was certainly befitting of him. He would momentarily break eye contact as if rummaging through his head. The answer to what he was is simultaneously complex and simple. At least he wasn't the only odd one in the room for a change. He would briefly glance over at the small group apparently playing with some kind of blue flame before returning his gaze to the bartender.

"I suppose you can consider me a mutated Griffin. Which is itself a mutation of felines and avians." he would continue to say with another booming chortle as his lengthy composite tail swayed side to side. "I shall start with your largest serving of water." he would finish with an astute nod of his feathered noggin. Only now was he realizing how dehydrated he was. Maybe he'd indulge in a glass of wine later, but first he wanted to replenish himself.

In response to Lavender's question, the little girl shrugs, appearing unaffected, "Well, you're just very basic, so I didn't pay it much mind." When the fire hits, she only looked on in curious observation, having a look of disappointment as it continually burns. After a half-minute or so of silence, she would crouch down in front of the fire and place her hand through it, feeling and comparing it to regular fire.

"How does this differ from the fire anyone can make, though? What countermeasures does it have against other fire benders? And what constraints does it have? If it relies on your mana resevoir, i'd recommend carrying a few molotov cocktails. You'll find they're much more reliable, especially against magic resistant enemies and spell supressors." The girl got visibly excited as she laid out the barrage of questions towards Lavender, being clearly heavily invested in the subject.

@Griffintaur

“Largest water eh.” said the bartender, hands wide and face down on the bar. “Let me see what we got.”
With a cocky grin he stands, turns around and heads through the kitchen door. A moment later he returned hefting a fair sized keg under one arm.
“Largest water we got.” he says as it thuds down onto the counter top. His face slightly coloured from the strain of moving the heavy water.

“Will that be all?”
He had to lean to the side to look past the wooden container.

Soon after the mutated griffin's entrance, the door to the tavern opened once again, and Anya Daymourn slipped in, her bare feet pattering on the floor, while she glanced at the patrons.
The little fae shivered- partly with cold, partly with fear. Here she was going to be treated more like a kid then anywhere else.

"Hello?" came her little voice. It was shaky, but as confident as she could make it.

She stared curiously at the chatting people for a moment, before looking back down to her feet, where she noticed some blood was dribbling down her leg. She he had probably cut it climbing through a bush earlier.

"Uh- does anyone know where I could get something to cover this up? It kinda hurts.."

Thrusting his shoulder against the wood, a young man used as much strength as he could muster to push open the wooden door and stumble over the threshold of the doorframe into the tavern. He had lost count of the number of days he had been walking and was uncertain of the last time he ate or drank anything.
Instantly dropping his heavy backpack on the ground with a slight thud, Dai took a deep breath as all the physical weight was lifted from his shoulders then pushed the bag up against the wall and out of the way of the foot traffic. Looking up, Dai instantly set eyes on a young girl whom appeared to have blood running down her leg. He wasn't sure what he had just walked into, but he knew he didn't want to be a part of, medical emergency or not.

Hastily, Dai made a swift line for the bar and didn't hesitate to gently slam coins onto the bar with just enough force to hopefully get someone's attention. Despite the sound, he didn't say a word, his dreadful appearance was probably loud enough alone to make it obvious that the man was dehydrated and in need of nutrition.