At a crossroads of sorts|Pyremens

[Deleted]

"Wait, what?" Alexi tried to wrap his mind around this. "Some woman's going around stealing men and killing their wives? What for?"

This did not bode well.

[Kender Bard]

"I don't know," the lady gasped. "I honestly don't, I just want her stopped. I'll pay whatever you ask for!"

[Deleted]

"Whoa, hold it. I don't kill women," Alexi said shortly. "You got yourself the wrong bounty hunter, lady, so you wanna just turn around and tell the law enforcement. Preferably a female officer, get me?"

[Kender Bard]

The woman's eyes burned as she stared at Alexi. Without a word, she turned and left.

Charminei sighed, blowing a tuft of bangs out of her face as she said, "If what that woman said was true, Alexi, then she'll be long gone before the guard gets off their asses and does something about it. She might even be packing her bags tonight. And someone that evil..." She frowns and looks thoughtfully to her friend. "Do you really want to let her get away?"

[Deleted]

Alexi gave Charminei his blackest look, and jogged after the woman. "Hey." He grabbed her shoulder. "I'm not promising anything, but tell me what the man-stealer looks like."

[Kender Bard]

The woman perked up noticeably, nodding, as she described, "She has very pale skin with strange markings all over. Paint I think... And she has very long, sharp nails. Her sign.. I think it was on her forehead. I'm not sure though, it was dark. She has black hair, the kind that's sort of blue/purple shiny. She's about.. this tall." The woman held out her hand. "And she had.." Here, she gulped. "Red eyes. That's all I can remember."

[Deleted]

Now that whole description just did not sound right. No woman in their right mind painted themselves up like that, or had red eyes. Well, there was his master, whose brown eyes were such a strange shade they appeared red in some lights, but that was just a weird gift from his family line.

Alexi hesitated, his scanty morals fighting with the instinctive insistence something had to be done. "Where does she like to show herself off?" he asked cautiously.

[Kender Bard]

"In bars," she sniffled. "After dark. That's where the menfolk gather, you know. I guess being half drunk and tired makes them easy prey." She spoke bitterly, hands clenching. It was more than evident that she had been stewing over this for some time. "I don't know what she looks like in public too much. Scantily clad, but I guess she must not get strange looks."

[Deleted]

Alexi wrestled with himself. Uphold his oath and let this woman keep leaving widows behind, or take the job?

Better take the middle ground for now. He had said he wouldn't promise anything.

"Which bar does she go to most often?"

[Kender Bard]

The woman shrugs. "I admit.. I wasn't paying much attention... So will you help me?"

By this point, Charminei had sauntered over and was listening carefully. She at least refrained from making anymore barbed comments to Alexi.

[Deleted]

"I can't promise anything," Alexi said after a long pause. "You better get outta town anyway." He released the woman and nodded to Charminei. "I'll get my weapons, then go ask around. There are a lotta loose lips in bars and taverns."

[Kender Bard]

"I'll help," she's quick to offer. "Men talk more easily around a pretty face. After all, what harm could I possibly pose?" She loses her tall and proud stature suddenly, and widens her eyes a little. If it weren't for her clothes, she might even pass for a little meek.

[Deleted]

"Heh." The sound was half snort, half chuckle. Alexi stepped into the inn to find his weapons, reappearing momentarily, armed. There was a nearly visible aura as black as his name surrounding him now; he was still fighting with himself.

"Let's go."

[Kender Bard]

Charminei pauses, resting her hand gently against his arm as she says firmly, "Alexi, I want you to be careful. A distracted warrior is a dead one, after all. Promise me you'll be careful?"

[Deleted]

Alexi was silent for a long moment. "If it comes to it, I don't think I'd be able to kill her," he whispered. "I can't even ask you to do it for me." His fists clenched at his sides. "I killed a woman when I was twenty and I didn't sleep for weeks, and when I did, I had nightmares. It wasn't even my first kill, damn it. It's not right for a man to kill a woman for any reason."

His fingers rubbed together in agitation. "I just don't know about this, 'Minei."