Scuro sat on her high chrove, feeling alive. She had reported the day before and gotten a night shift. Today she had started bright and early, the warm sun on her green back. She was on patrol in the Painted Ladies, and things were suspiciously quiet to her ears. She was passing house painted a gods-awful dusty-mauve color, when a figure popped out of an alley, seemingly oblivious to her presence, jogging along with a parcel of fliers under his arm.

"You there!" she shouted, "Halt! Do you have a permit for those?!"

The figure turned, and she could see it was a sandy-haired teen. He started when he caught sight of her green uniform, and looked ready to bolt. "P-p-permit?" he asked.

"Yes. Permit. Do. You. Have. One." she sneered at him.

The boy flinched and murmured incomprehensibly.

"Address a Seventen with respect, boy," she barked, "Do you have one or don't you?!"

"No, mum," he said quietly, head hung low, hands clutching desperately at the papers.

"I'll have to confiscate those," she said, shooting out a hand. The boy flinched, thinking she would strike him, and he sent the stack flying. She saw that they were fliers for some new shop in the Painted Ladies owned by some creamy fellow.

"You wicked, clumsy child!" Scuro growled,"Pick them up," she noticed a few blowing on the breeze down the street already,"All of them," she sneered. He didn't move out of sheer fright. "NOW!" she shouted, kicking out a booted foot into the boy's chest, sending him careening to the ground.

It had been a quiet morning, and Demkaih was just about to open shop when he heard a loud, demanding voice. He frowned slightly and peered out the glass in the door. There was a woman in a green outfit, a uniform, sitting on top of a chrove. And she was addressing a young boy.



The dark man opened his door slowly and walked to the gate, watching the scene unfold. He could see others looking through their windows, but no one dared come out and he knew why. This woman was like that Dom Leom. She was a Seventen. His face darkened.



That was quite enough for Demkaih. He jumped the gate and jogged over.

"Ho! Who do you think you are?" He glared up at her, hands resting casually beside his daggers, which he always wore now. Walking slowly, he stood between the woman and the boy, waiting.

Scuro started; she hadn't seen anyone else about, and now this impertinent fellow was speaking to her.



"Officer Scuro Viverti," she told him, nose up and mouth in a sneer,"and who do you think you are, addressing a member of the seventen like that?" She rose up in the saddle, glaring down at him.

The boy, eyes wide and darting between the two, went to hands and knees to scrabble for the papers.

((Don't know if I can claim "officer," as she's an initiate, but I was thinking along the vein of policemen- if they're out on the street they're police officers. I'll change it to something else if need be.))

Without missing a beat, the tall man answered.

"Demkaih Alkrim. I am but a spice merchant, but I am also a decent person. Do you think the Gods would treat you the same way you treat this boy when your time comes, just because they are superior? One does not gain respect through violence." His blue eyes looked into hers, and his jaw was set. He stood proudly in front of this woman, not backing away. It still startled him that the galdori here were so belittling. And this Seventen were the worst.

Scuro scoffed.



"You insolent bastard," she said, turning in the saddle so she was sitting sideways on it, fist clenched on the pommel,"Don't lecture me. I never said anything about respect-- I'm doing my job. This little ass doesn't have a permit for those fliers. By law I am required to confiscate them."

She hopped off her chrove, instantly dwarfed by Dem's 6'4" frame, but forcing out her field threateningly, physically pushing at the other two. "You should go back to your dunes, raggedy 'robi, unless you feel like challenging the seventen."

The boy, who fell back at her field jolt, brought his knees to his chest in fright.

((So, I would recommend not challenging Scuro. She's upset, and I personally don't want her hurting you- I like Dem too much!!- but if you could point out that the fliers are yours and that you do have a permit for them, she would no longer have the authority to pick on the kid. He's your connection, btw. Also, I made up "raggedy 'robi" as a derogatory slang term for the Mugrobi.))

((lol! i love that slang. also, wasn't gonna push scuro too far, but had to be all Dem in yo face..just coz its fun. lol))



Demkaih looked down and picked up one of the fliers and looked at it, realizing that he'd had these made a few days ago and the place that printed them up had said they would send them around.



Demkaih felt the throb of energy as it passed through them, it made him feel sick to his stomach, but he didn't flinch. The raggedy 'robi comment made his blood boil, but still he kept a flat face. Handing the flyer to the Seventen, he sighed. Oh Anaxas, my hatred grows...

"These are my flyers. And I have a permit, according to the paperwork that came with buying this shop and starting a business. It's advertising. The boy is delivering them for me."

When he didn't back down, but instead bent and picked up one of the flyers, she started thinking on some of the more dangerous experimental spells she and her sister had been developing, but didn't speak, because he did.



She hesitated. He wasn't going at her again like she expected. She blinked her frown-creased eyes and snatched the flier from his hand. She looked up and saw the red house indicated on the sheet. Gods damned protocol...

"Where is your permit?" she asked through gritted teeth.

Demkaih looked at her for a moment, before reaching for the bag at his side. Opening his coin purse he removed the carefully folded paper Quincy had given him and handed it to the Seventen warily. He chanced a look at the boy and nodded as if to say, Its alright.

"Is that what you need, ma'am?"

Scuro took the sheet, eying Demkaih.



She said nothing, eyes on the permit. Everything looked in order.

Unfortunately.

She held on the paper, eyes down for longer than to tell that the permit was legitimate. Her knuckles were white and she could feel her face flush. She inhaled through her nose, willing her blood to cool, and then looked up, and with barely controlled rage said simply, "This is sufficient."

She practically dropped the paper at Demkaih, climbed onto her mount, and urged it into a trot. She had no desire to stay there any longer.

The boy uncurled, eyes wide on Demkaih, then jumped to his feet to scrabble for the fliers again.

"Wow," he said,"I thought she was- an' then you just- but when she- and then you-" he couldn't seem to keep his thoughts coherent. He was bubbling with excitement. He glanced at the disheveled papers in his hand and looked at Demkaih, "Oh, sorry mate."

Demkaih kept his eyes on the woman as she walked the chrove off, thinking dark and not so friendly thoughts.



The dark mugrobi man turned to the boy and smiled.

"That is quite alright. No one should treat you like that, no matter what they believe they have a right to. Are you alright?" He couldn't help but be slightly amused by the boys broken sentances.

"No, no, yeah, I'm good," he was shuffling papers. He had managed to get much of the stack, but some had gotten away. He seemed slightly distracted after what Demkaih had just said. Finally he looked Demkaih in the eye and said,"Do you do that often? Help fellers like me an' stand up to the seventen?"

Demkaih cocked his head slightly, thinking about it. It was a very direct question.

"I have stood up for my friends in the past against a one Dom Leom. I do not come from a place where galdori treat people like this. The seventen disgust me. So in answer, I do what I can to help those in need."

"Nice, nice," the kid smiled,"Dom Leon, eh? You don't say. Big stuff, that. Big stuff. I guess you're from Mugroba, then? Yeah, mus' be. Yeah, an' we all do what we can, we do. You do what you can."

The boy leaned in sideways and said with a wink, "So, uh, you a party man then?"

Demkaih looked at him with a puzzled expression, one eyebrow raised.

"I do not often go to parties. There are to many people." He wondered why on earth the boy asked him a strange question like that. People in Vienda just kept getting stranger.

Kid's expression dropped slightly when Dem's turned to puzzlement.



And his face fell completely at his response. "No, no, no, mate. Not dancin' sort a parties- political like. But, uh," he leaned in closer and motioned for Demkaih to do the same,"on the down-low. Hidden, like. Tell ya what- I think there's some heads out there with brains that'd be interested in your, uh, work."

He dropped his tone further, "Tell me this: you ever hear of the resistance?"

The tall dark man leaned down close to the boys face, intruiged by the tone of his voice. Political party? He didn't think Vienda even had politics, it was so slummy.



Demkaih felt that he was starting to understand. The boy was talking about a type of underground group...



Shaking his head, Demkaih looked at the boy seriously.

"I have not, but I feel it would be a good idea if we went into my shop now. I would like to hear about this...resistance." He spoke very quietly, then stood, putting a hand on the boys back and leading him through the gate and into the spice house. Shutting and locking the door, he turned to the boy.

"What is this resistance then? Why would they be interested in me?"

Kid looked around, blasted with color and rich smells. He set down the stack of papers. He'd been handing out fliers for Demkaih the past few days and hadn't even entered the shop. He started wandering.



He kept wandering, but spoke openly, "'Cause a yer convictions, mate. You're a doer. They got a lot a thinkers. Even more talkers. But not a lot of doers, you know? You said you've stood up to Dom Leon. That'll impress'em. Be sure an' tell them so when you go for the interview. That and that Viverti woman. She's a loony. Powerful, but loony. Just an initiate an' thinks she owns the joint. But she's got the power for it. You know, she coulda blasted you right there. She attacked the queen, didja hear about that? But yea. The resistance, yeah."

He stopped and started picking up little carved boxes, trying to figure out the trick to opening them, "The resistance is tricky. You gotta be in the right place at the right time. Today you were. I'ma help you keep that way, if you think you can handle it. Wadaya say, mate? Wanna fix Vienda? Fix Anaxas? Make it so you don't have to stand by yourself against those seventen freaks for your freinds? Hows that sound, mate?"

Demkaih tried to picture the woman he'd just met attacking a queen, the queen to be precise. It was very easy to picture actually. He frowned. Loony and power don't go hand in hand very well.



The dark man walked over to the boy and took the box out of his hand.

"Fix Vienda? Help my friends? Sounds very good to me. Please, continue." He pressed a little latch on the side of the carved box and the lid opened with a snichk. Handing it back to the boy, he was all seriousness. He wanted to be part of this resistance, it sounded like the right sort of move for a place like Vienda.

Kid took the box back with an interested, "huh!"

"Yer interested then. Great. That's great. But'cha'know, the resistance in't easy to get into. There's work involved, but it's rewarding. And you can't just go looking for it and expect to find a way in. Kinda like this sucker," he held up the box, sliding it closed again.

"I coulda poked and prodded at this all day and not figured it out. But you, you knew how to get in. An' now that you've shown me the trick, I can get in pretty easy, can't I? So, as for the resistance, alls I gotta do is tell you the trick," he pushed the latch and snapped it open for emphasis,"and you're in."

He closed the box again and set it down. He spoke plainly, without the pretense of selling him the Resistance, "Now, it ent all fun and games. There's gonna be tough times if you do this. Yer gonna have to mean whatever you say to the up-tops, and be honest, and it better be enough. And you gotta contribute too. Now, I saw what'cha did today, an' If you did that with Ol' Leon too, well, I'm sold. But your gonna have to follow their instructions. If they tell you to flat out attack one of them unprovoked, you'd have to do it. If they ask you to hold off while someone you wanna protect is bein' attacked, you gotta. The resistance is what'll make or break you, bud. You could be that missin' piece they're lookin' for to snap things back into shape, an' you don't even know it yet. There's been big talk lately about the next big thing. Summat wide and wonderful like you wouldn't believe is gonna break open here soon."

"So. You know the Resistance is tough. You know they're pushing to change this rat hole. You want to change it, too. So, are you gonna stay outside the box," he picked up the wooden trick and put it in Demkaih's hands,"or do you want to see the secrets? This is your chance and your choice. Do you want to know the trick to get inside that box?"

Demkaih rolled the box in his hands thinking. This was huge, very huge. What if something was happening to Fion and he was told he couldn't do anything? Would he really hold himself back? If it was for a greater cause? And what if they asked him to do something to Fion? He quickly dismissed that idea, Fion would never be involved in something as dangerous as this. And ultimately, he was trying to free her and Piran from the stupidity of the galdori in Anaxas. He looked at the boy.

"I am a mugrobi. We do not lie, honesty will lead you down the River and onto the Great Ocean. If I must attack someone on instruction, then I do it for the greater cause. If I must hold back from protecting someone I care about, I would do what I must. I have survived the hardships of poverty, loneliness, near death and the mugroba desert. I will survive this too, because in the end, it is all worth it." He put the box back.

"I want to know."

Kid listened to Demkaih. He was sold. Though, it wasn't his opinion that counted.



"All right then," a smile spread across his face, a hint of pride in his expression,"Here's what you do, now. In three days, at midnight be at the Toy Lantern. At midnight. Ask the bartender for a cool drink of water and ask if Willy's around. He'll set'cha right after that. He'll set'cha right. It may get rough, but I got every confidence in you. Every confidence."

He turned and started walking toward the door."Remember, three days. Toy Lantern. Cool drink of water. Willy."

He opened the door and stepped out.

Demkaih stood looking at the door the boy had walked out of. Was he really doing this? He turned to stare at the box on the shelf, lost in thought. This was going to be one wild ride, but it was worth it in the end. Right? Sighing, he nodded to himself, knowing whatever happened now, nothing would be the same.