#Now I can finally hand it over to Wawalago

[witchofthescions]

OH HELLS YEAH I FINALLY CAUGHT THE NAVIGATOR'S BRAND

[the-tol-and-the-smol]

Sasata Sata - Lady in Red

The rowdy, energetic crowd at the Drowning Wench was both too large and not gullible enough for Sasata's liking that night. There wasn't an empty stool or chair in sight, the floor was packed with people waving for more drinks and more girls with less clothes, and the only betting to be had was on the several rowdy roegadyn sailors who had set up a winner-take-all arm wrestling challenge on her usual card table. As small as she was, it was difficult to get the attention of any of the harried barmaids to even get a drink in the throng. When she was almost stepped on for the third time by an elezen sailor attempting to dance while in a drunken stupor, she came to a decision.

There was nothing to be done for it; she was going to have to find a new place to hang out if she wanted to do anything fun.

Carefully weaving her way around the legs of other patrons, she managed to stumble out of the churning mass of people and onto the wooden walkway that surrounded the central tavern of Limsa Lominsa. Sighing, she put her hands on her hips and meandered out of the way of people hoping to force their way into the bar. Leaning on a nearby stone wall, she considered her options for entertainment as she idly shuffled her ever-present deck of cards.

There was, as always, the docks. Wawalago could be counted on for any number of over-the-top tales of conquest, either of fish or of women, and that was usually a good time for all involved. Sass didn't feel much like fishing or ending her night smelling like cut bait, though, so she ruled it out. She could go to Hawker's Alley and see if there was a game down that way to get in on. Given the Yellowjackets were still looking for a reason to haul her in, though, that was probably not a great idea until the heat died down.

Then  there was the Missing Member.

There were a lot of rumors about the pirate crew that ran the Member that were rampant across the underbelly of Limsa Lominsa – the Sanguine Sirens were reportedly little more than violent, angry, man-haters who would murder anyone remotely masculine as soon as look at them; alternately, they were all secretly a cabal of voidsent succubi masquerading as females of various races for the corruption of the city. Some whispers in back alleys said they actually skinned people who even enjoyed the company of males and made their boots and the red dyes they commonly wore and  from the leftovers, that the name of the small pub and restaurant came not from the lost crew members of the pirates, but rather an incident involving their captain and a would-be lover who spurned her. Sass dismissed most of the talk about town as the usual workings of the rumor mill, but the fact that she never saw a male in the famous red jackets of the Sanguine Sirens around the city lent some credence to the rumor that said the crew was at least almost entirely female, and that intrigued her. That, plus the fact that the head chef of the Bismarck itself once said their chef was giving him a run for his money recently and that the Member was actually producing some seriously delicious food. A decent meal may be worth the risk.

Gathering herself, Sass made her way across the square and crossed the small bridge to the Missing Member. Squatting pirates dressed in scarlet jackets and matching masks glared at her as she confidently strode across the planks towards to door. Sass could hear whispering in her wake, but elected to ignore it. There was no sense in starting something; she was heavily outnumbered and even with fatespinning, she wasn't going to do well in a fight out here. As soon as she touched the door, a hand shot out from beside her and grabbed her wrist. Sass looked at the hand briefly before trailing her eyes up the arm, where she eventually found the face of a masked hyur woman who had been squatting next to the door itself. It was obvious she was grinning behind her mask, and the pirate women next to her fingered ax hafts as the hyur spoke. "I smell a man. Where've you -been-, girl?" She hissed. The woman closest to her, a miqo'te, chuckled as she strengthened her grip on her weapon. She looked ready to strike at a moment's notice. Sass affected a lopsided grin and slapped the hand off her arm. The hyur's eyes narrowed.

"What do you care where I've been? It only matters where I am now, and that's going to get a decent meal and maybe a card game," she shot back, jerking her thumb at the red door of the tavern. She put her hands on her hips and made an exaggerated expression of disgust. "Besides which, smellin' like a man is better than smellin' like the backside of a chocobo with a bad case of the scours, which you do. Learn to bathe an' the world might like you more!" Sass finished, skipping out of reach of the hyur as her companions laughed. The hyur stood and shoved at one of the laughing women flanking her, who retaliated in kind. The women immediately fell into a scuffle, axes falling to their feet as they shouted and swung wildly at one another. The miqo'te pirate stepped in, attempting to quell what was fast becoming a dangerous scuffle in a precarious location, only to receive a punch in the gut for her trouble. She doubled over, wheezing, as the other two continued to fight. The group down the bridge looked to be placing bets on the outcome as they wrestled. Sass shoved the door of the Member open and disappeared into the tavern proper before the women could completely recover from the fight and realize she was the cause of the problem and not one of them. They could sort the issue out between themselves as far as she was concerned.

The interior of the Missing Member itself was fairly small, especially when compared to the Bismarck and the Wench. A somewhat cramped barroom with handful of fight-battered tables at best, a wooden counter that took up most of the space, a grill sizzling away in the background. The usual pub smells of smoke, drink, and grilled meat permeated the air. Sass smiled to herself as she mentally noted the small size of the place, remembering the one rumor about the lover who had spurned the Siren captain. Well, if that story is true, the size of this place is intentional and a great permanent insult to that guy, she thought. Of course, someone's gotta tell me that it's not the size of the thing but what you do with it that matters... she mused, stretching a bit as the door closed behind her. Nothing too special at all to the bar, from what she could see, aside from the sheer number of scarlet-coated pirates present, all of whom watched her entrance with at least passing interest. Sass offered the lot of them a small wave, which had the effect of most of the women grumbling and turning back to their drinks.

Sass made her way to a somewhat cleared and empty table, moving a few bottles and a plate into a stack on one side. She picked a chair that would put her back to a wall and her eyes toward the main entrance with the side door in her peripheral vision and hopped up into it, scooting it enough to get her close to the table. Even if the all the stories about the Member were complete falsehoods, keeping one's back to the wall and one's eyes on the exits in any Lominsan bar was just prudent. She waved a hand at the lone barmaid, a hyur who was strangely dressed in an elabourate maid's outfit who had been leaning on the bar itself, and the woman flounced over to her table. "Well hello there, welcome to the Missing Member!" The barmaid positively beamed as she spoke, her voice lilting slightly. She hugged a round tray to her ample chest, which was threatening to spill out of her uniform's low-cut square collar. "Contrary to rumor, we are definitely open to all people of Eorzea!" Sass cocked an eyebrow at that statement.

"I never heard it was private or anythin'," she said, watching the other woman carefully and judging her reaction. The hyur just kept on smiling. "Though I don't see much aside from red coats in here, now that I'm lookin'," she continued, leaning back in her chair and craning her neck slightly to take in the bar's patrons again. "I mean, there's that guy who looks like he might pee his pants in fright at the bar with the miqo'te who's trying to force-feed him oysters, but outside that, it's just me in a sea of red," Sass looked back to the barmaid, who to her credit was still maintaining the friendly server facade.

"Yes, we do tend to cater to a specific clientele more than any other, but I assure you, everyone is welcome," the barmaid looked at the small crowd of the bar as Sass spoke, taking in the other patrons. She nodded with some finality as she looked back to Sass again while maintaining the rapidly-becoming-creepy smile. "Now, how can we be of service this evening?" Sass watched the man at the bar struggle for a bit as the miqo'te, who was significantly smaller than he, held him on his stool with one arm around his shoulder while trying to drop an oyster from a half-shell into his mouth. She shook her head.

"Something with rum, I think," Sass mused, tapping her chin with a finger. Eventually she shrugged and fished around in a pocket of her coat. "Anything with rum, really. Hells, even just the rum by itself would be fine, I think," she chuckled as she slapped a small handful of gil on her table. "And keep 'em comin', wouldja? I got plenty more like this," she said a little more loudly as she tapped the pile of coins a few times with a fingertip to let the jingle of the money – and her statement about it – be heard clearly by the other patrons. Most made an attempt to feign like they hadn't heard, paying more attention to their drinks and their conversations than they had previously, but there were tells. A few feline ears flicked in her direction. Weapons were moved a little closer to hands. Fingers tensed and knuckles cracked. Good, got their attention then, Sass thought as she smiled. No one can resist a new face with a sack of gil. The waitress, for her part, nodded and turned on her heel, bouncing toward the barkeep while Sass spun one of the coins around before letting it clink onto the others again. She knew from experience that it was a mere matter of time before one of the pirates would get antsy and try to part her from her coin. All she had to do was wait them out, and the game would be on.

The waitress returned in short order and set a large, dented metal mug with a little paper umbrella perched on the rim that was teetering and threatening to jump to its death in the liquid within. Sass took it from the table with two hands and sniffed at it carefully. A smile spread across her features and she nodded her thanks to the waitress, who snatched a few gil from the pile and all but made if vanish on her person. Sass immediately suspected her for a regular down at the strange would-be “nunnery” at the docks. Many people down that way displayed that same dexterous talent, if not actual knives as well. She made a mental note to keep a closer eye on the distractingly dressed woman.

Sass leaned back in her chair a bit and nursed the large drink, looking for all intents an purposes like a child in the too-large chair with the too-large mug held with both small hands. If there was anyone in Eorzea who looked like an easier mark for a mugging, she had no idea who they might be. Maybe an actual one-legged child or something. A grin spread behind the lip of the mug as she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder. She looked back, tilting her head to see who her would-be takers were, and feigned shock when she found three much larger women dressed in crimson behind her. “We'd like a drink too, half-pint,” the roegadyn with her hand on Sass' shoulder said. “You'd best offer us one, out of kindness, of course,” she continued as she tightened her grip. Sass squirmed slightly and put on her best Country Bumpkinesque wide-eyed surprise look.

“Well of course you can have a round! No point in not sharin'. Siddown, make yourselves comfortable,” she chuckled as the women pulled chairs across the bar, the scraping sounds of wood on wood filling the air as they did so. The roegadyn turned hers backwards and straddled it, parking herself directly next to Sass. Her companions took up the side closest to opposite and watched Sass carefully. “What're ya havin'?” Sass inquired as she waved down the barmaid again. There were various grunts from the three women, followed by a series of nods. The miqo'te of the trio spoke up for the group.

“Bring us a bottle of the finest, most expensive, most hangover-givin' alcohol you got, and charge her for it!” She prodded Sass' chest with a thick finger as the other two pirates laughed. Sass looked at the finger briefly and shrugged, smiling. She didn't flinch as the order went in, nor did she try to stop it. It was just another form of mugging, honestly, and if a person tried to fight these things, they always wound up the worse for it in Lominsan bars and Ul'dah back alleys alike. Besides, drunk, the three would be far better for what she had in mind.  The barmaid returned with a dusty bottle on her tray, surrounded by three more mugs like the one she had brought Sass. Setting a mug before each pirate, she smiled cheerfully. She picked the bottle up by the neck and looked at it thoughtfully for a few seconds before leaning precariously over the table to set it down.

“So they tell me this bottle here comes from the Admiral's own private reserve,” the barmaid said as she set it in the exact middle of the table, her fingerprints still evident on the neck. Sass was almost positive this was a deliberate taunt, putting the booze out of reach of everyone at the table. She was really starting to like this barmaid. The three pirates all but salivated over the bottle as she set it down, their eyes following it as if it were made of pure gold and they were Monetarists.“I've no idea how the bartender got his hands on it, but it's supposedly the meanest, most delicious way to kill yourself we have here. Rumor has it the last person who cracked a bottle of this stuff hasn't drank a drop of anything alcoholic since that day, and that she has been nursing her hangover from it for well over a year now!” She hugged the tray to her chest as she finished, looking to Sass. “I hope you don't intend to skip out on this bill,” she said, and though she was smiling sweetly, there was a flash of something considerably more dangerous behind her ceruleum blue eyes. Sass shook her head.

“Of course not! Who would do that in such a fine establishment, anyway?” Sass asked, waving a hand to highlight said establishment as she spoke. “It's just bad form!” She chuckled, tossing a purse of coins at the barmaid, who caught it deftly and dumped it into her palm, quickly pushing coins over with an index finger as she counted. Nodding, she dropped two back into the purse and threw it back to Sass before pocketing the difference. Sass sighed internally at the low return, but things being what they were, she was obligated to be generous. Generosity, after all, tended to loosen the usual close-guarded nature of people, and it often let Sass get down to what she was really good at: Taking a sucker.

As soon as the barmaid had sashayed back to her post at the bar, the three pirates had an immediate, short-lived scuffle over the drink, their chairs scraping as they all stood and lunged for it at once, their hands reaching across the table and slapping at one another as they each tried to claim the bottle first. Eventually the roegadyn won as she punched the miqo'te in the shoulder hard enough to knock her off balance, causing her to stumble into her chair and fall over it and land sprawled on the floor. Sass restrained a chuckle at that – they weren't even into the alcohol yet and they were already ignoring her and nearly fighting each other. The miqo'te picked herself back up and set her chair right, glaring at the roegadyn. Her tail had puffed out slightly as she pouted under her mask. Sass watched the women as they poured their own mugs of the stuff. They passed the bottle around the table carefully before it came to rest near the roegadyn again. The women nodded at each other and rolled their bandanna-masks up just enough to allow them to drink, but no further. They took mouthfuls from their respective mugs and rolled the liquid around a bit, tasting the liquor and nodding in turn as they did so. Apparently it had met their approvals. The roegadyn threw her head back and dumped the drink into her open mouth, slamming the mug down on the table and wiping her lips with the back of her hand afterward. She clapped Sass on the back, almost knocking her into the table. “Yer alright, runt,” she laughed. Sass smiled at her despite the insult, and the women poured themselves seconds from the rapidly emptying bottle.

“Well thank you! You're not so bad yourself, uhhh...” She trailed off, fishing for a name. The roegadyn belched and looked down at her. Sass noted that despite the larger woman's physical size, she was already having difficulty focusing her gaze. When this is over, I'm going to get a bottle of that for Shu, she thought. If anyone'll appreciate something that'll fuck up a roegadyn, it's Shu.

“Just call me Red,” she said, grinning drunkenly at the lalafell. The miqo'te, who had been drinking at the time, snorted into her drink and almost caused herself to choke in laughter. She barely managed to hold herself together at the comment. Sass blinked and raised her eyebrows, her gaze traveling between the two women. Her gaze snapped to the third person of the group as she slammed her mug on the table and pointed in mock anger at the roegadyn.

“That isn't fair, I wanted to be Red this time!” The dark-haired hyur woman exclaimed. She was somewhat odd-looking for a hyur, Sass thought as she looked the woman over, like like she might honestly be of some elezen blood. She had a particularly tall and lithe build, high cheekbones, and some injuries that made her ears look more pointed than they should be. Before Sass could consider it further, though, the miqo'te lost her composure entirely at the hyur's comment, and slapped her hand against the table as she howled in laughter.

“No no, I'm Red,” she spat out before she broke down in a laughing fit again. Sass just watched the pirate women do their little routine, each claiming to be Red several more times before the joke wore thin and two of them settled into their drinks again. It was fairly obvious from their reaction that this was the same name every woman but the captain probably gave most people. It made their deeds much harder to track outside the actual crew, and was therefore the most annoying thing they could do to the Yellowjackets. Sass appreciated anyone who messed with the Lominsan law enforcement arm; as far as she was concerned, the stuffed-shirt ninnies could deal with a bit more prodding from people for their hard-nosed methods. She rolled her eyes a little, for effect.

“Well look, I can't just call all my friends Red. How are you gonna know who I'm talking to when I tell them they won the hand?” Sass asked, using a little sleight of hand to produce her dog-eared deck of Sharlayn playing cards, fanning them out in her hand before squaring them off again and beginning to shuffle idly. The hyur with the clipped ears was suddenly very interested, her eyes narrowing as she watched Sass' hands work. She nudged the miqo'te, who had just managed to pull herself together again, and nodded towards the deck. The miqo'te sighed one last time as she recovered from her laughing fit and followed the hyur's eye line, sitting up in her chair. Sass noticed her tail flick a little, something she had seen in other gambling partners as a gesture of excitement from miqo'te in general. Sass continued to shuffle and riffle the cards almost absently, until the roegadyn cleared her throat and caught her eye.

“You really want to play against the best Eorzea has seen?” The roegadyn thumped her own chest, as if to say she was, in fact, that card player of note. She leaned forward, closing the distance between herself and Sass, and continued. “Do you even know what yer getting into here?” She asked, her voice nearly a conspiratorial whisper and full of implied menace. Sass grinned at her in response, batting her eyelashes a bit to dial up her apparent innocence.

“Well, I had thought it's a decent game of Hide the High Heart with my new friends, all of whom are called Red, here at this fine watering hole. But I could be wrong,” Sass mused as she stacked the deck of cards into one palm. She tapped a finger against her chin as if in thought and stared off into space for a few seconds. “What'm I gettin' into if that ain't it?” She set the cards in front of her and leaned on the table, lacing her fingers together as she  looked into the roegadyn's eyes unflinchingly. The other woman regarded her for a few minutes, blinking and squinting in concentration as if she were trying to read the secrets of the world's creation in the lalafell's features. The other two pirates stopped what they were doing and watched the pair, hands close to weapons and fingers subtly twitching at the ready in case of need. Finally, the roegadyn shrugged and sat back, breaking eye contact. The other two relaxed as well, and Sass sat back again.

“Seven Hells, if you want to lose the rest of your gil so badly, who am I to stop you?” The roegadyn asked. “I mean, at least it'll be a short game, what with you havin' all of two gil left,” she slapped the table and let out a booming laugh at her own assessment of the situation, as if Sass being broke were the greatest joke of all time. The other two pirates joined in the laughter. Sass smiled sweetly, her eyes twinkling as she sat back and let them howl at themselves. All three were already drunk, and they were rapidly becoming very cocky. Sass was still sober, having only drank rum thus far, and having taken but a few sips from her tankard.  This would be as easy as getting a chocobo to follow a cart full of gyshal greens. She picked the deck up again, shuffled, and set it in front of the roegadyn Red.

“Alright then, you get first cut. It's only fair that the best player in Eorzea get that courtesy,” she chuckled as the roegadyn pirate gingerly cut the deck into three small piles, restacking them in an order she chose before pushing the deck back to Sass. The other two pirates fished small handfuls of gil out of their coats, the miqo'te pulling a beat-up leather money pouch from her bra as Sass watched in amusement. Looks like pirates are just like every other woman in the city after all – best wallet's in the most secure place on your person, she thought. The feline woman upended the pouch and dropped a stack of gil on the table with a loud clink. For her part, Sass pushed the two coins she had remaining into the center of the table. The hyur laughed.

“You haven't even got yer cards yet, short stack,” she hooted. “Ya might as well be throwin' that fortune o' yours into the sea!” She fell about her own coins as she slapped the table in a laughing fit, almost knocking the miqo'te's coins off in the process. The miqo'te's tail stood on end and fluffed out as she scoweld at her compatriot in annoyance, carefully scraping her coins back toward herself and covering them with both hands to ensure their safety. “Well, deal 'em out, let's get this slaughter overwith,” the hyur finished, leaning back in her chair and linking her hands behind her head. “We'll have a whole two gil ta spend soon enough!” Sass smiled politely and knocked twice on the deck before picking it up and dealing each player several cards.

“My bet's already out. I can't change that,” she said, fanning her cards in her hand with a smooth motion. “What you bet is up to you, of course,” she looked to her cards and feigned a somewhat disappointed expression for an instant. The miqo'te caught the brief flicker of upset and perked up, nudging the hyur and grinning. Sass' outward expression didn't change at all, but she watched the two out of the corner of her eye. Setting her hand to one side, she picked the deck up and turned the top card face-up. Gesturing to the roegadyn, she smiled a bit. “Well? It's your bet.” The roegadyn moved cards around in her hand, her tongue peeking out through her lips as she concentrated on them. She finally nodded with some satisfaction, picking up one card from the deck and playing one of hers on the leftover pile. She threw her two coins at the pile.

“I hope you like losin', squirt,” she chuckled and leaned back, holding her cards against her chest as she waved a hand in the direction of the hyur. “This ain't gonna be pleasant for you.”

“Oh, I think it ain't gonna be easy on us, neither,” the hyur said as she picked up both of the face-up discarded cards and threw a different one down in their place. “This is barely worth doin', Red. The winnings ain't even really a thing,” she said as she tossed her two gil into the pile at the center as well. “Get on with it, Red, I wanna go see what we can get for two bits,” she laughed as the miqo'te nodded and picked a card from the deck, discarding one from her hand onto the face-up stack. Sass smiled a little.

“You know, my uncle is a chocobo breeder,” she said conversationally, picking a card from the top of the deck and slotting it into her hand. The hyur rolled her eyes at the over-the-top display of apparent bumpkinism. Everyone who wasn't from the city had a chocobo breeder uncle, an aunt who made special pies, a mother who sewed their favourite shirt with her own two hands. “An' he always says not to count on the racers before the eggs are hatched,” she finished, smiling and laying down her cards. First a set of two. Then a set of three. Another set of two. A set of four. The pirates' faces fell from amused to astonished to angry in no time flat as Sass went from a full hand to fully out in no time flat. The roegadyn pounded her fist on the table in her anger, rattling the mugs and coins a bit and startling the hyur, who jumped in her chair at the impact. Sass stood on her own chair to reach the small pot of gil in the center, and she swept it to her side of the table. She looked at the fuming roegadyn innocently as she sat back down with her winnings. “What? It's only eight gil... you can win that back easy, I just had a lucky hand!” Sass exclaimed as the other two pirates threw their cards on the table in disgust. Sass gathered them back together and handed the deck to the roegadyn. “Here, you deal this time,” she suggested.

The roegadyn shuffled, cut, and dealt a new hand, all the while muttering to herself about luck and liars.  As she fanned out her cards, though, the muttering petered off and she broke into a somewhat drunken grin. When it came time for bets, the ante started at one gil. Sass was surprised they'd tipped to Sass raised to eight gil and watched as the women confidently threw in eight each. The miqo'te was actually laughing this time. Apparently the cards had favoured the pirates this hand, and they seemed ready to utterly destroy Sass's previous win.

Or so they thought.

The hand played out much the same as the previous one, cards taken and placed on the discard pile as players attempted to make viable sets. Two of the pirates actually laid down sets of cards this time, though neither could shake their remaining cards entirely. They were closing on a win, the hyur slapping her knee and laughing as she pointed at her cards and gave the miqo'te a thumbs-up. When it came around to Sass for the third time, however, she confidently palmed the entire discard pile and slotted every card into her hand. The laughter stopped as she dropped two pair and three sets of three. Her hand vanished in an instant and she swept the gil pile to her side as the pirates swore.

This repeated twice more, with Sass' gil pile ever expanding and the pirates getting more and more irate at having lost to such a countrified lalafell. By the fifth hand, cards were being bent as the pirates clutched them in anger. Part way through, the hyur's demeanor shifted a bit. Sass took note. She's ready to drop, the lalafell thought, watching the pirate shift her cards around and get significantly less tense. It's time to put an end to this. Knocking a single knuckle on the top of the deck, Sass drew one card from it. She moves cards around her hand so rapidly, they were almost a blur. Then she lay every one on the table – including a rare run of four. She stood on her chair again as the miqo'te swore an oath to Llymlaen and collected the hefty pile of gil from the center of the table. The hyur stood just as Sass was sitting back down again, her chair tumbling to the floor.

“You cheat! I had that win in the bag, runt!” she yelled, slamming her hands on the table. The miqo'te threw her cards on the floor and pulled her ax from her back, standing as she gripped the haft with both hands. She stared Sass down, her eyes narrowing. Most of the other patrons in the bar scattered, having apparently seen these three in anger before and assumed the worst. Several ran out the exits, and a few cowered behind upturned tables. The barmaid had found a dagger somewhere on her person and was in a defensive posture near the bartender. The roegadyn pirate growled and grabbed Sass's lapels in one giant fist, easily yanking her out of the chair and pulling her face to face.

“She's right, this is far too much luck. She should've won that hand! Where're you hiding them?” She asked as her free hand rummaged Sass' coat pockets and boot tops. “I know you've been hiding the good cards. You have to be. No one is this lucky, layin' out whole hands that fast!” She shook Sass like a rag doll briefly, as if attempting to shake the cards out of her, before dropping her to the floor. Sass grabbed at her hat, which threatened to tumble down her face as she landed with a strange amount of grace given the circumstances. She straightened her coat out, fixing the fit of it, and began picking up the scattered cards.

“You told me you were the best player in Eorzea when I first offered you this game,” she said, not bothering to even watch the enraged pirates as she cleaned up. “I took you at your word. Apparently that was my mistake, because not only are you all awful at it, but you've got a temper that's unrivaled in the meanest of chocobo when ya lose. No wonder you think yer great; if this is how you behave when someone don't throw a game in yer favour I can see why people might do just that instead of winning like their hand suggested they should. And if there's one thing you should know about me,” she stacked the cards neatly in her hands and looked up to meet the fuming roegadyn's eyes. “It's that I don't take to being called a cheat when I'm playing square,” she said coldly. The roegadyn took a step back in surprise as she had not been expecting the tiny woman to stand up to her at all, but in the end she stood her ground. The other two pirates closed on on Sass from the sides, brandishing their axes and blocking her retreat should she have decided to make one. The roegadyn reached down and slapped the cards from Sass' hands, which sent them scattering across the tavern floor again. Sass sighed and rolled her eyes as she bent down to pick them up for a second time. The roegadyn pulled her foot back as if to kick the lalafell, but before she could complete the act, the main doors of the Missing Member slammed open. In the doorway stood a smiling dark-skinned miqo'te who Sass had remembered seeing flee the tavern earlier and a well-dressed blond hyur woman in a large black hat and fancy scarlet coat with her hands on her hips and a vicious scowl on her face.

“ENOUGH!” The blond woman bellowed. Everything in the tavern came to an immediate halt, faces peeking out from behind tables carefully to watch the dressing-down that was likely to follow. The roegadyn pirate slowly lowered her foot to the floor and turned to face the booming voice. As she did, her expression went from one of rage to sheepish apology. “What in the name of the Navigator's blade-hiding tits is going on in here?” The hyur demanded as she cocked a hip out and surveyed the damage. “I take one day to go shopping for supplies and you idiots turn my bar into a fighting pit?” She strode over to the roegadyn, who attempted to make her imposing form look small as she nervously fiddled with her shirt's hem. “So exactly what the seven hells am I supposed to do if I can't even trust my own crew alone here for a day?” The other two pirates who had been gambling with Sass lowered their axes and stammered, looking for responses that wouldn't get keelhauled. Sass stood up to her less than imposing full height and looked up at the hyur.

“We were just playin' a friendly game of cards, no worries,” she said, offering the deck to the hyur. The roegadyn, who listened with her eyes widening slowly, had apparently been expecting a far different story to leave Sass' lips. She just nodded slowly as if to affirm the story Sass told. The taller woman looked from the roegadyn to the lalafell, then back again. She sighed, placing two fingers on the bridge of her nose and rubbing a bit as if to clear a headache.

“Just...look. Clean this mess up,” the blond finally said, removing her fingers from her nose and looking to Sass. She turned on a heel and marched back to the door again. “If this place isn't ship-shape inside twenty minutes, I'm taking a share from the lot of you to pay for damages!” She bellowed as she stood in the doorway. The pirates still in the bar snapped to reality almost instantly. They set tabled right and mopped up spills. One snuck a broken mug out the side door and threw it off the upper deck of the city in order to keep it from being noticed. “And you,” she pointed to Sass directly, which startled her somewhat. “You come with me, we need to have a talk,” she finished, curling her finger in a beckoning gesture. Sass had no other options that she could think of, so she shrugged and made her way through the Member to the hyur's side. The hyur and the dark-skinned miqo'te walked in silence while Sass trailed a few steps behind them. They crossed the wooden bridge to the Missing Member and the public square just beyond, eventually coming to a stop. The hyur sat on a bench overlooking Maelstrom headquarters and the miqo'te stood behind her as if keeping watch.  The hyur looked at Sass, who had moved to stand before her. “What really happened in there?” She queried. Sass shook her head.

“We were just play--” she started. The hyur held up a hand to stop her and Sass complied, coming to a halt mid-word.

“You was just playing cards, right?” Sass nodded. The hyur broke into a wide smile. “For someone who was about to get pounded into a fine lalafell jam by one of my more rowdy and angry ladies, you're awful keen to protect her,” she said, her gaze diverting from Sass to the stars above her. “Why is that?” Sass shrugged.

“She just got a little mad she lost at cards. No reason to get her in trouble for that,” Sass said as she shoved her hands into her pockets and rocked on her feet a bit. “Besides, it's not like she'd hit me,” she giggled. The hyur looked at her quizically, as if probing her intent.

“You mean she hadn't hit you, or she wouldn't be able to for some reason or another?” She asked as she looked Sass over, trying to read her reaction. Sass smiled.

“Either or. Point bein', I wasn't in any trouble from the likes of her, so there's no reason she should get hassle for it,” Sass shrugged. She tapped the deck of cards and there was a small spark of aetheric magic from the top. The hyur blinked a few times at the display, then broke out laughing. The sound of it rang out across the square. She clapped Sass on the shoulder.

“You got more balls than most of the men around here,” she said. Sass grinned at her. “I like that.  Do you know who I am, girl?” The hyur asked, resting her hands on her knees and leaning forward slightly to remain at eye level with Sass. Sass nodded slowly.

“Well, if I'm guessin' right, judging from the hat and the fancy red coat, you're the captain of the Sirens. Rhoswen, if the rumors are right. Yes?” Sass asked tentatively. The hyur nodded.

“Indeed I am. And that makes me the boss of those drunken louts and the owner of the Missing Member, the bar that just got overturned like it was in a bad squall because of a card game,” Rhoswen mused. She looked at Sass and smiled. “You have some talent with magic if I don't miss the mark after that little display,” she asked. Sass nodded.

“I mean I wouldn't say I'm exactly a member of the Order of Nald'thal or anythin', but I get by,” she said, flipping a few cards over and tracing the images with a finger before tapping them once and pointing at Rhoswen, who felt an immediate rush of vigor and smiled. She looked to her compatriot, who nodded at her. Rhoswen turned back to Sass.

“You wouldn't happen to be lookin' for a job, would you?” Sass' eyes went wide at the offer. “We don't got a whole lot in the way of magic users; most of 'em can't hold their own against my girls and as a result they get spooked off. We could use the edge a caster would afford us, if I'm honest. And I like your style, giving the drunks a lesson like that,” Rhoswen smiled.

“You mean you're actually hiring me? Even after all that? Even though some of those people'll probably try to kill me next time I show up?” Sass asked, astonished. Rhoswen chuckled.

“Well, not officially, of course. Can't just have the person who just about turned my one legitimate business upside down and made my deck hands so angry as to turn their faces as red as their own coats just waltz back there in the scarlet this soon,” she said as the miqo'te with her chuckled a bit. “How about just, under the table, like? For some sneaky magic work every now and again?” Sass lit up like a firework in the night sky; her eyes twinkled with mischief.

“I'm in!” She said, punching the air as she leapt for joy. Satisfied with the outcome of the conversation, Rhoswen stood and straightened her coat. She tugged the hems and nodded with some finality at her work.

“Good. Don't worry about getting us a name; I'm sure we'll find you when we need you and call you Red when we do,” Rhoswen smiled. “It shouldn't be hard to find a woman who makes other card players so angry just by winning so often,” she offered Sass a small wave and made her way back towards the Member, miqo'te in tow. Sass watched the pair go, fiddling with her cards as a nervous gesture. Before the duo of pirates made it to the wooden bridge again, Rhoswen stopped in her tracks and turned around. “Oh, and find yerself  a weapon, would ya? No self-respecting pirate is ever without one,” she said as she tapped her side, where a longsword hung. “Get one and learn to use it properly. It'll save your skin in a close fight like that one you were about to be in,” Rhoswen finished as she turned around to cross the bridge, leaving Sass alone with her thoughts in the Lominsan night.  Sass inhaled deeply and let out a loud, whooping cheer, which scared some birds off their nearby perches. After all these months in the Lominsan underbelly, she was finally in with a pirate crew. Even if it wasn't official yet, it was something.