Necharra: Part One

Suggested Music: Skillet - Whispers in the Dark

Ascending Water 4, R.Y. 764

Fay twirled around the tavern to the beat of the music. The floor was wet with ale and mud, but she danced bare foot anyways. It gave her more control and awareness. She had seen plenty of dancers slip and spill a half a dozen men's drinks. If they were lucky they were out on the street before anyone could do anything, if not, the men generally took their money's worth out on her.

Fay's tambourine bounced against her free hand and thigh in rhythm with the lute player's song. The tiny bells around her ankles tinkled softly with every step. Her skirt was slit high and top cut low. The rowdy, drunk men she entertained often grabbed at her, but she easily slipped away.

They didn't make much in tips, and the taverns paid them in a place by the hearth for the night and a little food. Jacob, the boy playing the lute, had started pressing her to pickpocket some of the customers. If she hadn't seen a dancer lose her hand doing that exact thing just a few weeks earlier, she would have started on her own by now.

A tussle at the far end of the bar caught the attention of the group of men she was moving past. It was enough. Her hand dipped into the open coin purse on the table, and as she twirled away, she deposited two coins into a hidden pocket in her skirt.

---

Ascending Water 16, R.Y. 764

"Shit," Fay thought, her eyes wide in panic. Apparently, her mark's friend wasn't nearly as drunk as the mark, and noticed Fay help herself to the mark's purse. The mark was still passed out on the table, but his friend was now towering over her. The attention of the tavern was beginning to turn toward them, and Fay had to act fast to frame the situation before he did. Glancing at where Jacob was sitting, she saw he was already gone. Asshole.

"I said no," Fay said loudly and clearly to the man standing over her. She stepped back and put her hands up defensively. He grabbed at her wrist, and she let him catch it. She let out a short, startled scream and turned away from him. Her arm taut between them, preventing her from fleeing. In an establishment such as this though, no one cared if someone planned on taking a few liberties with a dancing girl, so the men mostly chuckled and turned back to their drinks.

A big, young man that had been watching her all night was sitting nearby, however. It was him that she had turned towards, and it was just as they came face to face, when her body came to the sudden, jerking halt caused by her attacker holding her wrist tight. Her wide, frightened eyes searched they youth's as slow, fat tears rolled down her flush cheeks before dropping into her cleavage. "Please...," she breathed the moment before her attacker yanked her back toward him.

"You can't get away that easy you little..."

That was all he managed to get out before he took a punch to the face. As he staggered backwards, Fay slipped his grip and made toward the door. In the commotion that followed, she managed to make it outside unmolested.

"Hey, you alright?" Jacob asked as he stepped out of a nearby alley.

"You better not even ask for a cut of tonight's take," Fay replied flatly.

---

Ascending Earth 23, R.Y. 764

Fay mentally counted the coins in the little pockets hidden throughout her clothes as she strolled along the dark street. It was a good take, maybe he best yet. She had probably been a little over eager that night, so she figured she should be long gone by the time accusations started flying.

THWACK! Everything went black.

---

When Fay awoke, everything hurt. It was pitch black and smelled like feces. The floor was cold and hard. Stone. There was a sudden, sharp pain on her calf, and when her leg jerked, something scurried away. She felt herself over. Sores, fleas, and more than one rat bite.

"How long?" she wondered as her stomach roiled from hunger despite the putrid conditions. She started to feel out the space around her. Three stone walls and a wooden one, probably the door. The cell was only about 5 feet long and three wide. She was glad she wasn't any bigger. With both hands against the wall, she slowly got up and quickly discovered the stone ceiling was only about 5 feet high.

Fay leaned against the door and pounded it weakly. "Water," she rasped, her voice a gravely whisper she didn't recognize. Her protests lasted only a few minutes before she slumped to the ground in a coughing fit.

Only the gods knew how long she sat against that door and tried to get someone's attention, but it seemed that the rats were the only ones listening...

After what seemed like forever, she heard boots falling against stone. She was too weak to lift her arms, but she managed to knock her head against the door.

"Did you hear something?" she heard a man say.

"Probably just the rats," came the response.

"Water," Fay rasped weakly.

"I coulda sworn I just heard a voice. Do we have anyone down here?"

"Ummm... We brought that girl in over a week ago."

"Oh year, the hot, little thing. You don't think the boss forgot about her, do ya?"

"Not like him to forget about a girl, but he has been pretty busy."

"Water..."

"Shit. I heard it that time."

"I told you!"

Again Fay knocked her head against the door.

"That one, I think," came the voice, closer this time. Then she heard a bar being removed, and the door swung open. Fay fell backwards into the hall between the two startled men. The light of their torch burned her eyes even through the lids. It was glorious.

"Water..," she croaked.

"Well I'll be damned," one of the men laughed as he squatted down beside her. Moments later she felt the cool splash of water on her lips. She drank deeply, and a few seconds later threw it all back up.

"What the fuck?" shouted the water man as he fell back away from her.

"You have her too much, moron," laughed the torch man.

"Whatever, lets just get her upstairs."

Fay was barely conscious as the men dragged her up some stairs and down a hall, but she managed to collect her wits when she heard a man ask, "What the?"

"What is that thing?" a woman's shrill voice asked as Fay was unceremoniously dropped.

"Boss, you'll never guess who we found in the pits," After a few seconds of silence, he continued nervously, "Its the pickpocket. The dancer. Ralph and the boys brought her in a little over a week ago.

The boss laughed. "I thought Ralph said she was pretty," he frowned.

It's disgusting," the woman insisted, but no one was listening to her.

The boss scrunched up his brow and stared at Fay as he absentmindedly tapped a finger against his pursed lips. Then he sighed and leaned back in his chair, "He said she had a decent haul too... Take her up to Madam Aurora. If she lives, we'll put her to work."

"You have got to be kidding me," whined the woman as Fay felt herself being lifted by the arms and dragged away.