She could use the silver, Min decided. She'll need it for food and boarding and with a grimace, Min thought of the amount of telling off Safiya would give her if she dared to send a young lady on her way at this time of the night.

"I'm pretty sure," she replied thinking of her adoptive mother, slipping the kaiken under her shirt again. "I don't sleep much and there's nothing worth stealing. You need the rest anyway so I'm going to leave you to it and see you in the morning..."

if you haven't mysteriously disappeared into thin air by then, she added mentally.

Picking up her cat, she bade Myrnal goodnight and climbed up to sit on the porch roof, watching the constellations till sunrise. "Guess it's just you, me and the stars again tonight, Socks."

The porch roof was a nice place to take a nap once she had gotten used to it. Sleepily, she stretched and yawned. Looking for Socks but finding him nowhere, she woke up to the sight of Safiya walking down to her shack.

"Mother," she called. "What are you doing here?"

"I do live across the fields from you," the old woman replied. "What are you doing sleeping on the roof... again?"

Min climbed down, realising it was rather rude to talk to her shouting from the top. Not to mention, half the village could hear, let alone Myrnal who might be sleeping. "I had a patient last night. Some girl came in with a flesh wound. She's inside if you want to ask her to come around to join you and father for breakfast."

"I wouldn't mind another one at the table," Safiya replied opening the door.

"I thought as much,"  Min agreed, coming up behind her. "You could give my portion to her. I'm not hungry and I told Sarai I'd give her the day off today and take over her rounds."

"For the money."

Min nodded.

"Just as well, then," Safiya went on then paused abruptly. "I thought sleeping everywhere but the bed was a Nijonese eccentricity?" the dark-skinned local pointed to the sleeping mercenary... blissfully tucked away next to the backdoor.

"I'll wake her," Min answered, rubbing her temples. "Myrnal... wake up. Mother.. this is Myrnal. Myrnal, this is my mother... Safiya," she quickly inroduced the pair. "She wants you to join her for breakfast before you leave."

The men that had been chasing her caught up to Danis easily. The man who held Danis was dressed in what must have been a tan outfit, but it was so stained with blood and dirt it was barely recognizable as clothing. The blood rubbed off on Danis as he kicked and tried to escape. The traveler dropped his pack and held Danis with both arms.

“Stay still, you little monsters. I hate children,” said the man holding the little girl. “Do we really need them for anything?”

The other man grinned and pulled out a large hunting knife. “I don’t suppose we do.”

Myrnal jolted awake at the sudden sound of a human voice. Her hand flew to the knives at her belt and she'd drawn a katar without even thinking. After one shaky breath her eyes cleared and she realized it was just Minshara and someone who was... apparently her mother. Myrnal shoved the dagger back in her belt and rubbed the back of her neck, a little embarassed.

"Sorry about that," she sighed. "Scared the s#&^ out of me when you woke me up." Myrnal clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh. Sorry again. Just kind of slips out sometimes."

Language, language. Been too long since you visited Yanna and Kerran. Don't have your filthy mouth suppressed as well as you should anymore, do you? Your old-people censorship is a little rusty.

Myrnal stood and braced herself against the house with one hand. She twisted her torso and cracked her back in at least half a dozen places.

My own fault, she thought. S'what I get for sleeping on the ground.

"So are you guys all right? Minshara, you sleep okay? Apparently we both picked pretty freaky places to hang out last night. Did anyone even take the bed?"

Myrnal watched Min as she explored her garden for the source of the unfamiliar noise. She didn't see the cat until Minshara pulled him out of the grove of trees, and when it was clear what had happened, Myrnal pulled in air in an anxious hiss.

It's going to get worse, and if it's starting already, it's going to get worse fast.

Myrnal took a few cautious steps toward the healer and her adoptive mother, glancing over her shoulder to see what had been found with the cat. "Minshara..." Myrnal began, her tone tense and guarded. "Please tell me you can fight. At least a little."

If they've gotten into the house, it wasn't through the back. They must have gone around the front and gotten hold of the cat and whatever bit of map that was, and then laid him out here. Probably to make sure there's someone handy to take the fall. F$%#ing wonderful. Someone like the blade-collecting mercenary who showed up in the night. But it doesn't matter. If that were Heinrich, I don't think there'd be any convincing me either. I'd want a piece of somebody.

"This is a sign of Serious Bad S#&^ in the very near future. Are you going to be all right?"

At least she didn't point the finger at me! That's something at least.

Myrnal frowned. There was no reason to keep Minshara from going to Papilonn. Any attempt to do it would be obviously contrived and would just make no damned sense in general. Best thing to do would be to accompany her like a worried friend.

"Look, I don't know anything about professional cat assassination, but the idea of walking around by yourself making accusations to whoever the hell you find seems profoundly freaking stupid to me. You still haven't answered my question and I doubt I'd be content with your answer if you did."

Myrnal reached up and rubbed her eyelids with her fingertips. She hated going without breakfast. Her mother may have been a partial or even total nutcase, but she'd always insisted on breakfast and Myrnal saw nothing wrong with that. The ninja reached down and grabbed her coat, slipping her arms through the sleeves. She reached down and pulled her pack from the ground where it lay, half-squashed after being slept on like an insect crushed underfoot.

"I hate to be the kind of pushy broad who always annoys the hell out of me, but I don't like the idea of you wandering around alone, and I'm not going to let you do it. Keep your private business to yourself if you want, but I'm not letting you run off and get yourself killed by ruthless cat murderers over it."

Min's eyes narrowed into sharp slits when the term 'probably freaking stupid' hit her hearing. "First," Min's voice came out in smooth controlled tones, almost reminscent of Papilonn's own. "To answer your question, no I can't fight. I can't remember how to at will, to be precise, which amounts to the same thing." Normally, she would react almost instaneously to what she considered a 'profoundly freaking' rude thing to say, quoting Myrnal's vernacular but there were more important things to settle and an uncouth stranger was the least of her worries.

Her thinking compartmentalised itself into so many sections, each one assessing and planning what her next moves were. She did not have time to hate herself for being efficient and cold-hearted. Minshara long realised that this was simply how she dealt with unfortunate circumstances - solve first, mourn later.

She laid the cat almostly lovingly on the ground and walked over to the garden tools that were laid in corner. The lithe fingers wrapped themselves tightly around the handle of the spade, the knuckles blanched white with effort. Slowly, the other two watched as Min buried her pet in the middle of the trees and bowed her head for a few seconds as she offered a prayer to Faelyn. She kindled a small fire over the grave, plucked a sprig of mistletoe, burnt it and clasped her hands. Only inaudible whispers left her lips.

"Second," Minshara continued, still controlling herself. "There is business between Papilonn and I, that you're not privy to. The cat was a warning - that is what she will say." Then added, almost in an unwary whisper. "I've seen this before..."

"Where?"

"In Nijon, I think... its very vague," the reply was rather dismissive.

"Someone doesn't want you to return to Nijon," Safiya concluded.

"I don't need a map fragment to tell me that," Min hoped she kept enough of the 'snap' out of the subtle intonations of her speech. "First, it will be my pet... then they will go after my family." The last word slipped heavily off her tongue.

"What?"

Minshara looked to Myrnal. "I don't need you to look after me. This is broad daylight and they've given warnings which will give me a few days grace to cancel whatever plans I have." At this point, she looked around the small shack and in the distance, where thankfully, Min saw the age-humbled Ikwame stepping out of his home. "Its them, I'm worried about - my parents."

She walked to her shack and changed, slipping on a clean pair of pants. Min moved fast. In a matter of minutes, she was ready to leave and attend to whatever business she figured she had to settle. She tucked the kaiken into the folds of her shirt, adjusting the position so that the cloth hid it well, all the time her eyes showed that her mind was constantly thinking of matters other than what her hands and feet were doing. Shifting her back to get used to the weight of her knapsack, she walked back to the two women.

"My trip to Nijon will have to be put off for now," she stated, adjusting the straps. "I'll head over to the bordello after I'm done with my rounds. You need rest, Myrnal and keep the silver, just stay with my parents for the day. I might stand a chance against whatever attack, they won't. I'll be back in the evening."

Min leaned over to give Safiya a hug. "You will be all right," Min reassured the frightened old woman. "I will make sure of it."

"What about you? Are you really going to cancel your trip for now?"

Min nodded, her features relaxed into a slight expression of worry. "I won't be leaving for Narim as planned," she explained. "I'll see you later, Mother."

She strode over, feet firmly planted into the ground as she moved, toward her father and the two watched as she gave him a hug. Ikwame kissed her on the forehead as if in comfort before watching as she headed down the dirt road, fast disappearing from their sights.

"I'd like a bed for the night, please," requested the young woman in a hood.

The flophouse owner didn't bother looking at her face. Customers like these didn't want to be known. "3 coppers," he replied gruffly. "And you can take the bed in the corner."

"Thank you," she replied as if travel-weary.

The grimy fat man felt a little guilty, watching the lady slip the knapsack from under her cloak and sit down on the stretched leather frame, using her own bag as a pillow. "There is a decent tavern not far from here, miss," he called out, ignoring the curses that the other sleeping customers of the flophouse mumbled angrily. "My cousin runs it. I'm sure I'll be able to get the price slashed if I talk to him."

The lady nodded, in what he liked to think was a smile. "That's very nice of you but it won't be neccessary."

"All right," he answered. "If you need anything..." then just stopped there, getting the impression that the lady wanted some privacy. "Goodnight,"

"Goodnight," she replied and simply laid down on the bed.

Minshara had heard of the tavern. She had paid a the bartender a silver too, for a night's stay that she didn't use. She had been right about Papilonn. The brothel madam told her what Min already figured she would answer. Socks was a warning. It would be best to stop her plans.

The smell of the flophouse invaded her with every breath. Another  guest, a man, sat down on the bed next to hers, clearly rubbing his throat in the candlelight. "You don't happen to have some water, do you, miss?" he asked in a raspy voice. "My throat hurts."

Min handed him her waterskin. "What happened?" she asked instinctively and then flinched, chiding herself for slipping into old rhythms.

"Some men assaulted me last night," he said, returning it and pulled his collar down. "They stole my friend's boat from Miriel and snuck into Tarsis. One of them put a knife to my throat too... damned sharp blade, it was. Bast... he threatened to gut me like a fish."

She held up a small candle, barely enough light to see. "Let me take a look," she said. "I know a little about medicine..." she explained to ease the watchman's worry. "Just a few bruises, you will be fine in a few days. Stole into Tarsis, you say? Last night?"

"Aye," he nodded, settling into his frame. "Just before dawn... near the rear-end of Poliho."

"You didn't happen to see how they looked like, did you?"

"Why?"

Min smiled. "I'm a... bard," she replied showing him her reed flute. "Or at least, I want to be one...I like hearing stories. I need some original material to work on when I get to Daidlin's temple in Elenion," she added, quoting one of the pamphlets the travel agent gave her.

"I can't tell you much, I'm afraid. Well, it was rather dark... and he, the one that put the knife to my throat, was quite large and... mean. I can't remember the other one... but they had a horse. It was real beauty too. A palomino or white... I think," he laughed painfully.

"Sounds like your regular pair of ruffians."

"Far from it," he coughed. "Gave me three gold pieces for my silence,"

Minshara laughed softly. "And you spend it here?" She blew out the candle and decided to try to get some sleep.

"Well, I'm an old man... had my share of women, wife died years ago. I thought I deserved a nice drink of them vintage ale. I'm sorry, miss... not quite the story you hoped for."

Min shrugged and smiled the smile that was fast becoming a charateristic feature of hers. "Oh not at all... its enough for an idea and I think I can figure things out."

*******

Back in Poliho, Safiya set the plates nervously for dinner. The girl, Myrnal, had stayed with them the whole day... but there was no sign of Minshara yet.

"It's getting rather late," she said, scooping rice.

"For?" Ikwame asked.

"Minshara..." Safiya answered her husband, surprised.

"Min? But why? It's not as she'll be back by nightfall."

"Why's that?" the voice was halting and unsure of what her husband's answer would be.

Ikwame looked to his guest and wife. "Minshara said her goodbyes this morning," he said increduously, "She's left for Nijon! Took the the last ship out."

Myrnal made her way to town as quickly as possible. She had two tasks. Head to find that damn half-crazed Druid, and she had to find Minshara. Both were of vital importance, but she'd decided before that helping Min's parents came first, and she'd stick with that. Besides, once she found Minshara, she wouldn't be able to do much else but follow her.

She walked into another one of the thousand or so taverns on the continent that had "dragon" in the title and asked for Yadali. There was an excited yip from the kitchen and a sleek little red fox darted out of the back room into the bar itself. Yadali poked her head around the doorframe. The petite elf's hair showed up first, being a short grey mass that stood on end like dandelion fluff.

"Hey Myrnal. You evil today?" the girl asked.

"No, damn it."

"You need something else?"

"Yes. A friend of mine is in some trouble and her parents are likely going to be targeted by somebody's hitmen next. I was hoping you could keep an eye on them tonight and, if possible, put them up here as soon as you can."

"Wait, so I'm doing security bodyguard work?" Myrnal nodded. It was close enough. "Sweeeet. I love hitmen. No matter what you do to 'em, you don't feel bad."

Myrnal grimaced. "Yeah. Kinda."

Yadali finally came all the way around the door instead of speaking with her head poking out. "Well, I can't say as I'd feel awesome about somebody bugging my parents, especially if they weren't my parents and couldn't do what my parents can in which case they couldn't just..." Yadali made chomping motions with her hands. "You know. Eat the guys and be done with it. But what's great about this situation is that they're guys, right? Bipeds as I know them?"

Myrnal pressed her fingertips to her temple. Sometimes Yadali was entirely too full of words. "Yes, I assume that they are."

"Well, good. Because transmutation is my specialty, and no matter how big the guys are... a bear is always bigger. Sir Alex! We're off!" Her fox rushed to her side, and Myrnal quietly told Yadali where she was headed.

"Just make sure nothing happens to them. I promised a friend they'd be safe."

"Snug as a bug in a bearskin rug, which will hopefully not be me by morning. Wait, why couldn't you just stay with them?"

Myrnal was hoping Yadali wouldn't ask the obvious question, but it was always hard to predict just what Yadali was going to do. "Because. I have to go chase down their daughter and make sure nothing happens to her, either."

"Oh! You don't know where she is?"

"....No."

"Well, hold on! Let me think--" Yadali couldn't have paused for more than the time it took to breathe. Stopping to think may or may not have been against her personal credo. "Yes, okay. Well. I'm going to go find her parents, and I'll send something smart out to go find your friend. Squirrels aren't smart; they can't even remember where they put their food. Birds, no. Rats! Rats are sharp little things, and we have them everywhere in your crazy cities. I'll send a bunch of them to see if they can't find her. Give me something of yours."

"...What?"

"The rats need to find you. Give me something of yours so they'll know how you smell in case you've moved around too much."

"Uh.... fine. Here." Myrnal reached into her pack and pulled out a dirty sock. "This work?"

"Oh, man. I'll say," Yadali said, taking the sock and stuffing it into a pocket. "Well, go ahead and see if you can't find her. I'll send my rodent army to get you if they locate her first."

This was insane, but like most things Yadali did her first inclination was to do something so unexpected and so bizarre that if it weren't so effective Myrnal would never be able to tolerate it.

Myrnal shrugged. "I'll hang by the docks to see if she's left already and, if not, to make sure she doesn't go without me."

"Yeah, whatever," Yadali replied, her attention span giving out on her now that things had been decided. "See ya!" With that, the elf split for the door and her fox followed her as was his lot in life.

Myrnal headed to the docks, pausing in an alley along the way. She pulled off her coat and reached into her backpack. She pulled out two cloth gauntlets to protect her arms, and tucked her pants inside her boots to ensure better mobility. She stuffed her hair down the back of her shirt to keep it out of the way, and pulled on the hood she never wore unless she was absolutely sure of the kind of work she'd be doing.

Myrnal wrapped her coat around the few belongings left inside her pack so that they wouldn't rattle, and then put it back on. She was out in her official capacity now, and anyone who detected her in the course of her work deserved to find her, and would regret it immediately.

Yadali found the house in relatively short order, and had Alex sniff around the back. He made a full circuit through the woods, pausing to mark a tree in case any nearby animals weren't aware that this was his turf to protect now.

Yadali had Alex sit next to her feet like a good gentleman when she knocked. "Yadali Volpecula, at your service!" She said toward the door. "I am neither here to harm nor kill you! Your brooding foulmouthed mercenary friend sent me! Oh," she added as an afterthought. "And Alex! He's a knight but the "sir" is optional." She nodded, satisfied that she'd adequately introduced herself.