Sarinah rode briskly through Old Rose. News had reached her this morning of Dorhaven, and she was in a state of panic. The whole of her tribe was located in Dorhaven, her Durg was there, her family. She'd already cried her eyes out this morning and now she was furious. Packing a small travel satchel and stealing a horse tied outside Cooks Place, she'd decided to first visit the blacksmith and see if he had any spare saber's to buy, then she was high tailing it to Dorhaven. Screw Cook for now.

Reaching the forge, she jumped off the bay animal and bashed on the door. Her face was hard and her eyes red from crying.

"Smith! Open up! Smith!" She beat the door again.

She waited, none to patiently, her heart beating furiously. No one was coming to the door.

"Blacksmith! Are you up, it's urgent!" She yelled once more, banging on the door again. If he didn't come soon she was going to get on the horse and go to Dorhaven without the saber.

"Now what's a pretty 'lil thing like yerself makin' such a noise about?"
The voice seemed to come out of nowhere but it's owner soon stepped out from a nearby building into the light.

He was tall and muscular. It was obvious that he'd been in his share of fights before. He wasn't the type of man that you'd pick a fight with at the Black Dove. He dressed himself casually. His tattered pants and a loose shirt were filthy and it looked like he hadn't bathed in a while. Another figure stood at his right.

It was a women with a very sleek and nimble way about her. She dressed a bit nicer. She wore a better fitting shirt, and her pants weren't tattered but she looked like she hadn't gotten all the pampering she'd required for a couple of days. The two didn't look very pleased.

"Who is it you're looking for anyway, darlin'?" the woman asked in a clever tone. It was apparent the woman most likely knew the answer already.

Sarinah turned slowly to face the voice. The man was a burly mess. This was the reason she wanted to get things over and done with fast. She put her hands on her hips, ready to reach for her sai's if things went sour.



The brunette raised an eyebrow. Was this woman toying with her? She flicked her hair behind her with a toss of the head.

"Wo chet! I'm looking for the blacksmith. Urgently. I have to leave for Dorhaven, if you haven't heard, it got clocking well blown up. I have some galdori to slice up." She rapped on the wooden forge door.

"But to do that, I need a nice big saber."

"Now there, no need for violence." At least not yet the man thought to himself. He raised his hands up as if in surrender.



"Temper, temper." The woman hissed. "Well, it seems we have some common ground. All three of us are looking for the blacksmith." She couldn't help but wonder if such a girl would be any use as leverage to Ue. Hmm, probably just another customer she thought to herself. "Dorhaven was blown up, you say? Well that's just not fair. Looks like someone's trying to compete with us on the chaos scale."



"I got a big ---"
"Shut up, Merk." the woman interrupted. "This is the reason Hawke doesn't put us on duty more often." she muttered to him, unaware of how loud her temper had made her.

"I'm sorry, hun. You understand how the lesser half of the species is, I'm sure." She smirked. "Oh where are my manners? I haven't introduced us. This clocking idiot is Merk. You can call me Ells. Like 'bells' but without the 'B'"

Merk gave Ells a defeated glare. Why was she always so harsh on him?

"And your name is?" Ell inquired.

The dancer watched him closely, highly suspicious.



Sarinah narrowed her eyes, she didn't think that was funny in the slightest.



The duo were becoming less and less threatening by the minute. Sarinah raised her eyebrow, she had heard Merk's joke a million different ways. And Hawke. Her mind ticked over. These were part of Hawkes men, the Bad Brothers. She crossed her arms.

"Sarinah. Can I ask what business you have with the blacksmith? You don't look like your here for a saber." She looked at Merk.

"Unless yours is to little to put to use."

Ells tried to choke back a laugh but couldn't hold it very long. "That was good!" she complimented in between suppressed chuckles.

Merk growled at Sarinah and started toward her. Ells regained her composure and grabbed his hand. "Uh-uh-uh, Merk. Let it go. I'm sorry." she said trying to sooth the angry bear of a man.

Ells looked at Sarinah, still smirking a bit.

"You're blacksmith,Ue, owes Hawke quite a bit. We're here to get what's ours."

Sarinah eye'd the duo flatly as the woman held the man back from giving her a good thrashing. Obviously he was a little touchy about the subject.



Looking around the street, then knocking on the door again, Sarinah threw her hands up.

"He's not my blacksmith Ells. He's the blacksmith. And he's still not coming to the door. What sort of debt are we talking about? I can't imagine Hawke lending anyone money." She played it out for as long as she could, hoping suddenly the blacksmith wasn't home. She disliked Hawkes men almost as much as the oppressive gollies.

((righty-o. *stores for future referance*))

"Actually, ma'am, Hawk helped Ue out finan'shly a couple o' times." Merk spouted. "We ent nothin' but businessmen" he glanced at Ells and corrected his statement,"...and lady's."

Ells stepped in front of him. She thought Merk should really let her do the talking more often. "What he's trying to say, Sarinah, is that if Ue had just paid his dues as asked, we wouldn't even have to be here. Do you think our dear Silas Hawke really enjoys taking people's money?"

Chuckling, the brunette almost answered yes. She put a hand to her face and tapped her jaw thoughtfully.

"So what are you here to do? Are you coming to politely ask Ue for the money or is it more of a...physical visit?"

"As Merk here has said before; we are nothing but people of business. That is if you abide by the rules. Ue likes to skip his payments, so we have to be just a little bit forceful with him." Ells said making a gesture with her hand to show how small.

"Really, it's not fair that everyone calls us the bad guys when they can't follow the rules."

The news of the attack on his home had rattled him that morning. From what he could gather the explosion had happened on the opposite side of town as his family. He'd headed out early to send a message to his father and brothers and was just now returning.

Viktor had just rounded the corner when he heard the exchange. So it wasn't just protection money these thugs were after, old Ue actually owed money to that shark Silas. That was different matter all together, crime bosses like Hawke were business men above all else. Perhaps they could work out a deal.

Vik made sure his hammer was visible hanging on his belt and stepped out to address the little party that had gathered on his doorstop. Pity on these stupid henchmen if they opted for a fight with ol Mirko this morning. His rage was up over the galdori attack, he was willing to take it out on anybody that asked for it. Besides, they were trying to scare a customer away.

"No one's paying a "physical" visit on anybody in this house. You got dealings with the smithy, you got dealings with me." Vik called out in a clear, strong voice. It was his dangerous voice, flavored with just the right amount of menace.

Sarinah laughed, Ells was like the woe-is-me bad guy of the year.

"Right, right. They got it all screwed up then." She sighed, her morning was getting wasted fast and she desperatly wanted to get to Dorhaven. These two were fast becoming less of a threat and more of a nuisence.



The brunette dancer turned to see a ruggedly handsome man with a huge hammer hanging on his waist. He looked like the blacksmith, but not quite. She sighed a little in relief. Turning back to the thugs, she put her hands on her hips, daring them to make a move.

Ells turned to the voice. She recognized the rough looking man. "Victor, isn't it? It's nice to see you. Maybe you'll be some help in finding Ue." She seemed hurt by Victor's accusation even though it was a true one. "Why would we hurt Ue? A deadman can't pay what he owes, after all."

"Yeah." Merk blurted "We ent gunna do much." Ells glared at him. "Shut.up.Merk."

"You ent gonna do a clocking thing you poxy lugger! I want you to close your head, I want to talk to the lady." Vik hissed without raising his voice. He paused a moment to make sure the thug stayed silent.

"Now I understand Ue owes your boss money, this is the first I've heard of it. Consider his debt mine now, you don't come to him, come to me. I've taken over the shop and in no time I'll have it making ten times the income it has been. Mr. Hawke is a business man, I'll pay Ue's debt if you lot lay off and let me get this shop up to standards He stands to make his money back and then a good deal more. These scare tactics don't work on me and the next time you come and try to scare me or my friends you'll feel my hammer." Vik said fiercely.

"He is not capable of paying the money, I am. So go and tell him what I've said, you're not hurting anybody here today. If he wants to discuss terms he knows where to find me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a customer." Viktor said with a dark look in his eyes.

Sarinah eyed the man with respect. He'd really given quite a speech and she didn't doubt for a second he could use that hammer to do some real damage. Turning back to the thugs, she crossed her hands behind her and slid the sai's out, then held them by her sides where they could see them.

"And this customer won't leave a good man to fight alone." She knew Viktor could probably smoosh the pair well enough on his own, but she didn't want to leave the playing ground so unequally balanced. She didn't look back at the big hammer-man, she kept her eyes flatly on Ells.

Ells listened thoughtfully while Victor spoke. His demands seemed reasonable enough although she wasn't sure how well this would go over with Silas. She was pretty certain he'd have no problem seeing as he was s business man. Victor wouldn't go unmonitored, however. Hawke would make sure to keep an eye on him.

"Listen, handsome. If you even think of bailing out of our deal; even think of it, you're going to have bigger problems on your hands than a couple missed payments."



Ells smirked at Sarinah. It was almost cute how tough she thought she was. Ells was sure she had some potential and might even be a worthy opponent one-on-one, but Sarinah had obviously not taken into account the fact that the Bad Brothers had numbers. Not that it would ever come to that. Ells and Merk might look goofy and harmless from a far, but in battle they were a force to be reckoned with. Merk had his sheer strength and Ells had her agility.

"There will be no fighting for today." Ells ensured. "And there won't be in the future as long as Victor here keeps his promise." she said shooting Victor a glance.

"Put your toys away, sweetie."

"You'll have no problems from me, though it will help us all immensely if the criminal activity in this area were kept to a minimum. In order to make this business work, I need wealthy customers. People with money don't come to the slums where they're likely to get mugged and murdered." Viktor continued, happy that the woman seemed to be agreeing with him.

"In fact, if I were able to meet with Master Hawke, we could iron out all the details on the deal."

Sarinah kept her sai's out, watching the woman carefully. She might not be a vision of warrior status, but she could hold her own with the sai's and she had her agility and flexibility. Not to mention her wick spells. But she didn't say anything, she was waiting for Viktor.



The dancer kept her face emotionless, but inside she was suprised. Money she had, not a millionare, but definitly coin in her purse. It was the way he talked so easily about meeting Hawke. Ballsy sir, very ballsy.

Vik took the silence of the two emissaries as agreement and turned his attention to Sarinah. "Now what can I help you with Miss?"

He eyed the sais with a great deal of professional enthusiasm. So far he hadn't had the chance to craft something quite as elegant as those. Ignoring the ruffians completely he opened the door to the shop and with a gesture invited her in.

"How rude of me, leaving a pretty lady on the street when she's obviously in a rush and in need of my services."

[Sorry I haven't replied in a while ]



"Sorry to interrupt you two, but I just wanted to add one more thing before you go." Ells called out. "While meeting with Silas sounds like a good idea, it will be tricky. The Bad Brothers don't just let anyone in. You'll have to prove you're trustworthy first. We'll be keeping an eye on you until then." She smiled and then waved for Merk to follow her back into the house.

"See ya later, Victor. Tell that tumble to take it down a notch, ye chen. We don't want to do any more harm than is necessary." Merk chuckled at her last sentence. He liked it when Ells played the roll of the empathetic criminal.

((Hey no problem!))


Viktor scowled and pointed a defiant finger at the two. "I don't want "in", I want out, just be sure to let Silas know my terms."

With that he shook his head and waved for Sarinah to follow him in.

Sarinah glared flatly at the thugs as she followed Viktor inside. She didn't care about the tumble remark, being called worse things in her line of work, but something about these two really bugged her. Sliding the sai's back in her skirt, she looked around the shop. It was warm inside, and surprisingly well organized. The last time she had been in the smith's, it had been an absolute disaster, tools and half finished projects everywhere. She stopped and looked at Viktor.

"So, your the smithy now are ya? Thanks for appearing when you did kov, I was beginning to think they were gonna take Ue's debt from me." She cocked a hip and placed a hand on it, looking around for the weapons she thought would be here.

"I'm just looking for a saber. Something light weight. Got some gollies to gut in Dorhaven." She said blandly, as though it was a run of the mill occurrence.