Aoi was taken aback and at a loss for words for what felt like once in her life as the drunk, armored man dragged her along with him. He was much larger and stronger than she realized as Aoi tried her best, tugging in the opposite direction.
“Excuse me,” she said, finally stomping her feet to the ground, digging into whatever she could.
“I said stop!” The pink haired girl grabbed the guards wrist as she pried her own hand free out of his grasps.
Not disturbed in the least by her resistance, the armored man guffawed instead, hardly able to feel the pressure of her grip over chainmail and leather. He was indeed stronger and larger, liquid courage giving him a more brazen attitude than normal, while the crowds were dense enough, loud enough, that no one noticed.
“Gufufu, no need to play coy,” he jeered,
“I know exactlyyyy what you’re here for. Even those thieving bitches don’t dress in clothes like this. So c’mon darling, don’t make a scene.” Aoi was surprised at the man’s words. He was definitely not the same breed as the first two knights she met. She had to think on her feet as she was heading to somewhere she knew that she didn’t want to be going.
The woman bit her lips as she thought for a moment with a light bulb clicking in her head of what plan of action to take next.
“If you were to act a little more gentlemanly, than maybe I might be much more to oblige. There isn’t any need to be so forceful.” He paused for a moment, before that goofy, exaggerated smile creased his features again.
“Alright, alright,” the man said, swaying lightly on his feet,
“What’s yer price then, lass? Twenty silver? Thirty?” “Thirty-five?” Aoi questioned rather than stated, not knowing the going-rate. But she figured that she had to continue on acting out her much more exotic role if she wanted to buy herself more time in escaping.
“All good, all good,” he nodded, sliding the arm he had around her shoulders to a lower position,
“Ain’t no goblin slayer here, lady.” Was he truly that ‘rich’? Or was drunken lust doing all the talking here? Regardless, the man pushed her forwards, heading towards the south with even more drive, now that a deal had been struck.
Really feeling her role now, Aoi grew a little more confident, but that burst of confidence quickly subsided as his arms now wrapped around her waist, making it harder for her to figure out a solid plan.
“Ah! Payment is to be made before, along with drinks…” She had to think again, but figured that the best thing to do was to stay in sight, that would be her best chance to escape.
“How about we go and enjoy the night, I haven’t had a chance to see any of the vendor stalls.” The pink haired woman gave her knight in shining armor a playful wink, wondering how overdoing it she was actually doing.
“Hahah,” he laughed, paying her no heed,
“You can have a look around on your time afterwards, lady. If I wanted a date, I wouldn’t be paying!” And there was that forcefulness again, mixed now with more impatience, more aggression. One hardened hand against her back, he directed her away from the crowds, into darker streets bereft of the festive atmosphere of the taverns and inns.
The feeling of defeat began to rise in the pit of her stomach as his brutish side returned. But as they began splitting away from the crowd Aoi saw what could only be what she figured an opening to her escape to continue. She noticed Matteo, one of her newfound friends.
“Matteo!” Aoi screamed as loud as she could, slipping under the man’s arm that was around her waist as he was now pushing her instead of dragging her along with an iron grip, running towards the wavy haired man.
“Matteo!” Her new acquaintance turned questioningly at the sound of his name, brow furrowing. He raised his hand in a little half-wave, looking a little relieved to see Aoi running towards him before the rest of the picture finally registered.
Looking alarmed, the short man stepped forward to cut the guy off before he could reach the fleeing girl.
“Excuse me,” Matteo began testily, catching onto the armored drunk’s arm.
“What do you think you’re doing?” “Get out of my way!” Matteo’s attempt last for all of two seconds before the much stronger man slammed his other fist into the curly-haired youth’s head. Though it was without finesse or skill, the sheer weight and momentum that came with such a blow sent Matteo reeling, spinning once before crashing against the back of another random gent. Blood dripped from a cut on his eyebrow, while his head ache and rang as if a clarion call was echoing through his skull.
The man that he crashed into turned with a laugh, before pushing Matteo onto his feet again.
“Scrapping with the Old Bear, freshie? C’mon, show us your guts!” But the ‘Old Bear’ cared little for continuing his rampage upon Matteo. With the bespectacled stringbean hardly giving him any pause, he closed the distance upon Aoi easily, one hand stretching out to grasp at her hair.
“Don’t fuck wit me, you sluttish liar!” he shouted, yanking her back.
Aoi was shocked at how fast the knight was, even in his armor, he managed to catch up to her in an instant.
“Let go of me!” She turned to see Matteo’s face, freshly bloodied with the cut and all. Then her eyes focused back onto the hefty knight. Aoi knew damn well she couldn’t take him on, but felt that she had to do something now as he struck Matteo and was calling her a liar, which of course wasn’t wrong.
“I’m not a prostitute!” The woman hollered,
“Let go of me, there was a misunderstanding!” Her logic was to attempt to reason with the burly, angry man, even if it was a little too late. If there was a chance to have Matteo and her not get any more injured, she was going to at least try.
“My… guts?” Matteo was muttering in a daze, clutching the side of his head. There were still white spots fading in his vision.
“Thanks…” He managed to find his balance after the man he’d fallen into gave him a helpful push in the right direction, but what now? As he staggered after the so-called Old Bear he looked around for something to even the odds-- a stray spear, or a chair, or something to throw.
It didn’t look like he had time for anything so sophisticated-- the guard already had Aoi by the hair and it didn’t look like reason was the most effective weapon against an angry drunk. In a fit of irritation (or inspiration) Matteo kicked at the back of the dude’s knees like a mean little boy, hoping it would upset his balance long enough for Aoi to get away.
The kick had little to no effect, Matteo feeling the sensation of kicking the trunk of a tree rather than the knee of a human. But it was enough to draw the man’s ire regardless, as he pulled down a second time on Aoi’s hair, more to inflict pain that to draw her closer, before releasing. Turning around, it was clear that the rosiness of his cheeks was no longer due to drink alone.
“Oh,” he snarled, posturing menacingly,
“Think you’re a big guy, huh? A tough guy? Alright, you little bitch, if you’re so set for this, I’ll just bend you over instead!” With that, he tossed his chainmail gauntlets aside, clenching his fists to the approval of the crowd.
All around, the masses were drawn to the fight that looked like it was going to start. Old Bear had always been a belligerent bastard, but the crew cut warrior with dark tattoos lining up one side of his face was entertaining at least. The time for merriment had passed, and now, it was bloodsport that the warriors outside were interested in. Forming a ring of armored bodies around the two, onlookers jeered and cheered, rumors of the fight starting almost in an instant. Some thought that Matteo and the Old Bear were fighting over rights to a woman’s bed. Others thought that the fight had started when Matteo bumped into the man at the wrong time. Then there was the rousing, chivalric tale of the freshie defending one of his own against the greasy hands of that lousy drunk.
No matter the story though, the ring had blocked off escape, and Old Bear was ready to rumble.
“FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” Aoi yelped in pain as the knight yanked her hair one final time, causing her to fall to the ground. The pink haired woman watched as Old Bear turned his sights onto Matteo as the crowd around them began to thicken.
Picking herself up off the ground, with her brows furrowed she glared at Old Bear who was still eyeing his new prey that consisted of Matteo. She wasn’t going to leave her new friend as it was her fault he was even in this mess, but everything she had done so far had little to no effect, or more so made things totally worse.
With a big breath, Aoi decided her next few moves might be the stupidest ones yet, but her only purpose right now was to get Matteo out of there alive. Yanking a small, glass mug from one of the onlookers in the crowd who stood beside her, she tossed it towards Old Bear’s head, doing the same a second time before shouting to Matteo.
“Run!” He’d been backing away, trying to say something like
“Oh, I’m sorry, that was a mistake” (which was true) when the crowd finally took notice of the scene. What could have been helpful before became decidedly unhelpful as Matteo was surrounded by the other warriors in the crowd.
How the situation had escalated to this point wasn’t clear to Matteo, who still didn’t know why the dude had been pursuing Aoi in the first place. What was clear was that he needed to beat a tactical retreat. Immediately.
“I greatly apologize,” he said, clutching the side of his still-throbbing head.
“I-I don’t know what came over me. No, no-- I have no intention of fighting, thank you,” the last was directed to the crowd, whose frenzy seemed built on unfounded expectations.
“I actually--” He took the opportunity Aoi gave him and made a dive for a gap in the crowd.
The small glass bounced off Old Bear’s skull with nary a bruise to show for it. Glaring murder at both Matteo’s cowardly bitch-talk as well as Aoi’s continued attempts at distraction, the muscled warrior approached, even as Matteo fled.
There was no gap in the crowd though, none that willingly parted. Though the crowds had not caught the circumstances behind the first punch, many had seen Matteo kick his opponent from behind. Faced with a veritable wall of beaten steel, as well as the slightly less amused expressions on the faces of the spectators, it was clear that escape would not be so easy.
“C’mon lad!” “Show some guts!” “Where’s all your balls now?!” “Man up and fight!” And from behind, Old Bear surged with familiar violence, running up for a ferocious haymaker. Matteo did his best to duck and fell to the ground, scrambling back clumsily away from his opponent. He tried to think of something rational to say and came up with
“Please don’t kill me.” Matteo’s attempts to dodge and duck brought laughter from the raucous crowd, but it only infuriated his opponent further. The warrior’s blood-rage was pulsating through Old Bear’s veins now, and he rushed at Matteo with the force of a mad bull. Bringing a leather boot back, the man scored a hefty kick onto the prone youth, sending him all the way to the other side of the fighting ring.
His breath left him in a wheeze as Old Bear’s boot to his chest sent him flying, knees and elbows bouncing cruelly off of cobblestones as he rolled. Something clinked as he lay there in a ball of pain, his mind screaming for him to get up. Picking up his head, Matteo’s eyes focused on the rolling glass beside him, left over from Aoi’s attempt to get him out of this terrible situation.
His earlier plan to use something to level the painful difference of strength between himself and the drunk rushed back to him. Matteo snatched up the broken vessel and tucked it close to himself, hunched over and still gasping for air on the ground. He had to be patient. He had to wait for Old Bear to come close enough--
The drunken man jumped up this time, powerful legs prompting a gasp from the spectators as he sailed through the air, aiming to crush Matteo’s back beneath his soles.
“YOUR ASS IS MINE.” --Too close. Way too close.
“Shit!” The spectacled young man rolled desperately, tucking his arms in and throwing himself to the side. He was yanked back abruptly as he felt Old Bear’s boots thunder down on the hem of his jacket, yoinking him back. He struggled to tear the article of clothing away, jarring one shoulder as he managed to stagger to his feet with the glass still clutched in one hand.
“You win! I concede! Forfeit!” But the fist came all the same, a powerful right straight towards Matteo’s face.
Holding up a broken glass as a shield didn’t actually soften the blow. It was more like getting punched by someone wearing a gauntlet (which Old Bear had kindly removed before the match). His eyes crossed. His head snapped back. The back of the glass collided with his nose and glasses with a crunch and Matteo went down.
The last thing he heard as his consciousness faded to black was the sharp commands of guards pushing through the crowd, ordering people to clear the way.
~~~
While the men had their fight, a slender hand grasped Aoi’s, the kindly, but bagged eyes of one of a waitress-looking lady at her gently while the crowd roared on.
“Best to leave while you can, sister,” the braided girl said,
“Dunno what’s up with those friends of yours, but the guards are coming soon.” “I can’t leave him…” Aoi said biting her lip. She turned to face Matteo and Old Bear once again as she knew that the only way to help him was to get some help.
“Okay... Let’s go.” Tightening the grip of the woman’s hand she was led out of the crowd, looking for whatever else she could to even out the fight, that’s when her eyes lit up as she saw another familiar face.
Ash, who had been wandering back from whence she came, had been distracted by a large gathering. They had formed a human wall filled to the brim with yells and jeers. Ash couldn’t possibly know what was going on besides something eventful. Her curiosity had got the best of her. She wanted to know what was going on. As such, she joined the thick crowd. She was unable to get further than the outskirts, however. People were packed in tight. There was no room to traverse the flesh mountain. If Ash had been born tall, she could have peered over the volume of heads.
As it stood, she knew nothing. That was until Aoi appeared, pulled by an unknown girl. As soon as Aoi’s eyes lit up at the sight of Ash, Ash’s eyes narrowed in disappointment and disapproval. What was Aoi even doing here?
