One bad thing after another had happened in this awful city. First, she'd been unable to save the man - his face had seemed to haunt her. It happened whenever something prevented her from helping the ones she'd decided on; an exquisite form of self-torture that she couldn't really help. Especially since she'd learned his name - Darrian
They'd been delayed due to a storm that had ripped through the city the night that she'd left with the little girl. She'd learned that her name was Kinai, and that she had lost her mother. She learned the man's name because Kinai would cry for him when she was scared - which was often. She was terrified on the boat, the way that it moved in the storm. She'd cried herself into exhausted sleep, only to reawaken and wail for something familiar.
Vi was not exactly maternal, but even her stomach had twisted for the little girl's fate. She'd tried whispering to her, even reading from a book of Dalish tales that she had tucked away in her room.
The girl had been passed around to all the women on the ship; some were better with her than others - pirates or not, they were still women. Some had been mothers before they joined her crew. Even Bob had tried plying her with some of his sweetest dishes. It all worked for awhile, but Kinai always returned to a morose state. She needed to go home, wherever that was.
The wind had been blowing hard directly from the water, making disembarkation impossible. It had cleared, finally this morning - enough to sail by, but Viara was still stuck in this beast of a city due to a need to restock on food and some other supplies, things like barrels and tables and rope. Her crew had gotten just a tad reckless with cabin fever. Damn pirates.
"They need to be disciplined, Re." Viara looked over at her bosun, a dark-haired elvish woman with striking blue eyes. Reara was not often off of the boat, but even she'd felt the need to stretch her legs on solid ground. "I don't care what they break when they're away, but this is my boat. It seems like the only thing they're good at is fighting amongst themselves and driving up my costs." Too many new people on board.
She swore, roundly, but the slight elven woman seemed unperturbed, merely nodding. "Aye, Captain. They'll have a tighter leash."
"And no rations; and put them on kitchen so they can smell what they can't eat. If it happens again, Bob can start chopping fingers." Her voice was harsh, and Reara chuckled before loping away.
Vi didn't know what was so damned funny - she was angry enough to spit. She wanted to get away - lingering for so long in one place made her anxious. It was more likely that she would get caught, or seen, especially in a city where she did a lot of illegal trade. She was nothing if not normally careful.
The Captain spat. She was surrounded by drunks and sailors, whores and fishwives. The din was incredible; she needed to clear her head. Turning on her heel, Viara stalked towards a less-crowded end of the docks. There was a smaller vendor there with cheap, strong drink.
She definitely needed a damned drink. Or, several.