The Hamlet Streets

[lunardusters]

The sounds of the wheels on the stagecoach echo through the area, a single petite girl stepping out of it. Her expression seems slightly anxious as her eyes scan the area. Turning back, a moment, to speak to the driver- only to realize that he's already driven away.



"Damn," A quiet curse, sighing as her attention drifts, upwards now, to a large building atop the cliff backside the town. Clearly in ruins, but the sight of it makes her.. uneasy. Her mind wanders as she thinks about what it could be, what it reminds her of..

[speakeroftruths]

[Yaa Ofori - Entrance]

The ship had been in harbor for some days now, simply... waiting. The crew, all hearty folk of African decent had been about, dicing among themselves and drinking their spoils in the tavern some nights. They had missed the invasion by a matter of hours, arriving the morning after to a quiet harbor and a quiet Hamlet. Not that they hadn't taken notice of the blood in the streets and the burned out second story of the tavern, but what else was to be expected of the savage north? There wasn't a single port of call that they had berthed in that wasn't embroiled in some local conflict or another, and it was no skin off their backs. They'd be on their merry way to the next port as soon as they were done with their business, so there was little profit to be had in getting overly concerned or connected with whatever stupidity had taken hold here.

At least, that was the theory. Reality, as it often did, had other plans.

"Worthless scum-sucking barnacle of a man!"

The queenly Akan woman marching down the long path up to the Heir's house has her arms thrown to the sky in exasperation, the heavyset man beside her shaking his head in agreement.

"I expected that there would be complications. Complications I was prepared for! These Europeans are all useless with money, so I thought, 'Sure, make a few trips, get paid in installments,' but this? This is just negligent! A loan of that size for an estate that will span the countryside, the envy of all who behold it... And for what? A crumbling ruin within a single generation? Had I the kind of gold that is owed, I could construct a palace for my entire tribe that would last a hundred times as long. A PALACE!"

"So, priestess, what will we do?" Her companion cannot help but grin, the sheer ridiculousness of the situation too much for him to bear. 

She lowers her arms to fall behind her head, resting it against them as she walks. She sighs, rolling her eyes not at her companion, but at the whole damn Hamlet around her. The gold bangles at her wrists clink in merry time with her steps.

"Ahhhhh, I don't know. As much as I would love to say that this is a total loss and just cast off, the sum in question is too much, and the King is owed his due. I think I shall stay and audit these ruins myself. For all I know they just lost the key to the treasury and called the whole estate a failure. Sail out without me, finish your route, I imagine I will be here for some time."

The man winces slightly at that, which draws a merry laugh from the woman.

"But priestess, the Queen Mother,"

"Will understand, Captain, when you explain to her. This is a matter of duty, after all. Don't let my mama scare you, she knows how the game is played. Besides, just remind her how proud she'll be when I ride back home on a wave of gold that would make the ancestors weep tears of joy. They have truly let their debt get out of hand here."

The captain lets out a slow breath, running a hand through his braids in dismay, then grins again.

"Well, one night more? It's getting on in the evening, we can set sail with the morning tide."

"Of course, Captain. I'll be sure that Agbe is with you before your topsail crosses the horizon. Now off with you! If I'm to be here a while, best I get to know the locals. And don't forget to pick me up next season on your route, or I will be quite sore with you!"

With one final laugh, the two part ways, the captain back to his ship, and Yaa Ofori to the town square, to sit at the base of the fountain and take in the sights. 

"Welp. Here I am."

[lunardusters]

A voice stirs the girl from her stupor, looking back to watch the woman be seated.

"Oh," turning to face her, "Greetings. I assume you're from out of town too?"

She hadn't gotten the full conversation, partially because of range, and partially because of distraction, but..

"Are you some kind of tax collector?"

[speakeroftruths]

[Yaa]

Well! Not a moment passes and already one of the locals... And she just said she was from out of town as well. Ah well. She can't be that much younger than Yaa herself and... Well, anyone you know is someone you might find use for later.

"Why hello there. Astute eye there, girly, what gave it away?"

She gives a soft laugh, the kindness in her eyes belying the teasing of her words as she tosses her head, smiling. The tight braids at her neck jingle softly as the gold and bone ornaments in them click together at the sudden movement.

"I'm Yaa. Not a tax collector, but a banker. The man who owns this estate owes me and and mine a great deal, which is why it appears I'm stuck here in this freezing armpit of a town. How about you? What's got you trapped here?"

[lunardusters]

"Ah, not an eye. I heard what you were saying to that man," Vaguely motioning to the area they'd walked in from.

A brief pause before she speaks again, nodding at herself.

"I'm Sonya. I came here because.."

Another pause,

"Well, I've heard that there's quite a lot in the way of riches here."

A lie, but a believable one.. at least, it would be were it not for the clear evidence of some terrible massacre having taken place not too long before the new arrivals had come.

[Kidney]

The wound wasn't as deep as he had thought.  Rushed examination found its depth to be non-severe, and its current condition to be uninfected. Not alike to the world Dane currently existed in. The malignancy dripped from this place like the blood from the wound across his side, its sins and its severity like a snake oil down the gullet of a wife who needed the pain in her belly to go away before the ripened fetus of damnation erected itself from her decrepit premises. Dane had a habit of letting his thoughts get the better of him, and his tightened grip on the yew bow in his hands was symbolic of this vitriolic hate. 

The body was cold, and so was the severed hand in Dane's own, not equivocally crushed and not adequately strong for the action, fingers snapping as Dane's grip grew tighter. The cold, damp, once-gloved thing was now a hunk of meat and bone, pressed tightly to a now half-wrinkled flyer Dane had found some thirty miles north, nearly identical to the first he had ever found, and the one he had lost even before that, within The City's walls. Krosis, he would say, to Law. Why would he be forced to, he did not know, but he knew whatever hate he felt now was misplaced, and the body that lay behind him unnecessary to be so, what once could have been a hogtied warm body, one that would eventually get away from its bindings and return to villainy that could be addressed at a later date was now a heap, surrounded by its own viscous blood.  And so, Dane looked over his shoulder to the body one final time, eyes drifting with the riptide of guilt towards the single dried yellow pedal, browned and crisp on the edges, lain on the hole-like wound where the sharp arrowhead had punched through his softened flesh and broken past one of his bird-chested ribs and into his black heart. The pedal represented the guilt, old, and dead, easily blown away with the wind. But for the time being, perched on form, a reminder of the damage one could cause when their way was not dictated, when their arrows were forced to fly, and their lives were hardened with hate and with despair. A mile south, where the trees grew thin, The Hamlet lay. 

Dane began to walk, feet stomping onto hard cobble, and helmet aimed at the most opulent building remaining in this place. It seemed The Hamlet was like coagulated blood, splayed out in every direction easiest to flow, but stopped at the slightest impasse, and left to sit. He reached and yanked the fuckin' thing off his head, chain coldly caressing his face like ghostly fingers, and hard leather like real ones. He continued to move, motivated by the pursuit of Duty, and quickly found his way through dark alley and darker street. 

[speakeroftruths]

[Yaa]

"Ah, an eavesdropper then! Silly girl, didn't your mama ever tell you that lurking is a pervert's sport?"

Yaa gives another careless laugh, patting the foot of the statue as an invitation for Sonya to sit by her.

"Well, Sonya, then it seems we are both out of luck. Come here looking for riches, and that unpleasant dried-out bit of leather in the house on the hill will tell you that all of his family's fortune is lost, buried in the rubble of the estate. By my grandfather's bones, it's going to be some days digging to get at it, even if these rough sorts," she gestures to the passers-by vaguely, "Haven't already looted what is rightfully my King's. You've been had, girl, just as I have. I'm sure that with whatever worms that man has between his ears, the money's all spent, and I'll be stuck hawking whatever arts and jewel-encrusted chamber pots I can find in the markets of Porto and Lisbon."

If the townsfolk have indeed already looted the Estate, then they clearly didn't do much with it. The prevalent aesthetic seems to be rags, mud, snow, and muddy snow.

[lunardusters]

Thinking for another moment, Sonya looks up at the aforementioned house.

".. What's your plan, then? I suppose neither of us can simply go back. I'm not sure about you, but I don't exactly have anywhere to go back to."

[speakeroftruths]

[Yaa]

She looks around, noticing how a few of the people around here seem to be armed, and nods to herself.

"Well, first things first, enjoy a last night with my crew. After that, all these people must be staying somewhere, so buy a room. Then see if I can convince some of these people to help me dig for a cut of the profit. Nothing large, mind, you don't just go around promising the palanquin to the porter. If there is profit to be had though, no harm in spreading some around. A happy, well-fed porter shoulders their load without complaint."

She turns her easy smile to the slip of a girl in front of her, who still has not sat down.

"I don't suppose you're any good at digging?"

[lunardusters]

Moving to sit next to her, brushing dirt off her coat that doesn't exist.

"Ah.. not particularly, no. I lack upper body strength, you see. I can be good at finding things, though.."

[speakeroftruths]

[Yaa]

Yaa shrugs, the motion rippling the fine woven poncho covering her upper body.

"Ehhh. Worth a shot. Could be handy in knowing where to dig anyway. So, that's my plan. As for you? What does the future hold for Sonya?"

[lunardusters]

Sonya's expression drifts downwards.

"I'm.. not sure. My coming here, it was more impulse than anything else.. I-I didn't have many other options."

Sighing slightly, her eyes darken, no longer seeming to meet Yaa.

[speakeroftruths]

[Yaa]

Yaa laughs at that, clapping a hand on the smaller woman's back.

"Then you may be in luck after all! It is most often those without direction that end up finding it in the least expected of places. In this place, no one knows you, no obligations hold you, hell, I am likely the only other soul who knows your name! So, Sonya. You are a girl without a past, and with an uncertain future. You are in the enviable position of being able to determine your own path. Assume, for a moment, that everything does go your way. This is the first day of your new life! What do you want to do with it?"

[lunardusters]

"No one knows me.."

She contemplates on this for a moment, before blinking and flashing a small smile. "That's true. I can be anyone I want."

A giggle at the older woman's question. "I... dunno. I'll figure that out as I go along, I think."

[speakeroftruths]

[Yaa]

"You see? That's the spirit! Just let me know in advance if you decide to go by a different name, hey? I may be the only one who knows Sonya, but I've got enough names to keep track of on the daily without one of you changing on me without warning."

Yaa leans backwards, resting against the Ancestor's effigy as though she had not a care in the world.

"Keep thinking like that, and whatever you figure out, I think you'll do just fine."