A Loach in Water

Coming across the town walls, Ava was disappointed to see they were much closer to the walls that she had seen around the rich district. But seeing the towering rooftops peeking out from behind the walls, her eyes couldn't help but glimmer again. In the end the town was still much more impressive.

Heading over to the gates of the town, Ava was surprised to see that they could simply walk in without any problem, with only two half asleep guards on post, carelessly confirming that no one had any visible weapons or cargo. After entering the town, Ruth once again seemed to want to slip away, but under the fierce gaze of Ava could only reluctantly follow along as Ava walked around and explored the town.

From an outside perspective, the three looked quite harmonious as Ava ran around a few steps in front of Ruth and Elly with a fascinated gaze as she looked around at the intricate buildings and the stone paved roads. Behind, Ruth followed with a slightly tired and annoyed expression, while Elly would peek her head out from behind Ruth every now and then when she saw something interesting.

But before long, the splendor of the town couldn't help but wear off as Ava confirmed that in the end no matter how big the town was, the core remained the same. To the right of the trio, a man was grabbing a woman by the hair as she screamed profanities and brought her into an alleyway while everyone watched on with interested but ambivalent gazes. Sighing, Ava shook her head and decided to give up exploring for the night.

In the end, no matter where she was, people were still people, and men were still dogs. Under proper instruction and care, perhaps they could be groomed to appear pretty, approachable, and loyal, but leave them to their devices and they'd turn feral faster then you could blink.

Thinking for a moment, she let let out a small smile before turning back to Ruth and asking, "What was the name of the inn the guard mentioned before?"

Her face blushing, Ruth whispered, "The Red Lion inn."

Giving Ruth a meaningful smile, Ava said, "No reason to refuse a free room right?"

Flustered, Ruth didn't know how to explain that when the guard gave the offer he wasn't actually offering a room, but a transaction of another sort, but in the end didn't know how to explain. No matter how ruthless and scary Ava was, she was still a young girl and Ruth didn't know how to say it, especially in the presence of Elly.

Of course, both Elly and Ava were aware of what the guard meant, but Ruth seemed unaware of this fact.

In the end, not knowing how to explain, Ruth ended up simply leading the two to the inn after asking a passerby for the location. Maybe… she could still reject once she had arrived? Or they could get a separate room. After all, if the guard used the inn, it shouldn't be too shabby right? And in the end, if she really got taken by the guard, that wouldn't be that bad would it? After all, he was a guard, so it would be a stable position…

In the end after nearly thirty minutes of searching, the trio arrived near a shabby looking inn near the slums of the town. Seeing the broken down wooden building in front of her, Ruth's expression couldn't help but distort a little. Was this a place for a human to stay? But in the end, under Ava's piercing gaze, Ruth could only step into the inn.

At the counter, only one lazy looking teen with greasy yellow hair was on duty, and upon seeing them enter called out without any enthusiasm, "Rooms are a silver a night, food is two."

Hearing these exorbitant prices, Ruth's heart couldn't help but stop. F*ck, even renting a house wouldn't cost so much, this was blatant robbery right? But as she was about to turn around and leave, she saw the slight shine of a metal tip inserted into the front desk and remembered Ava was behind her. In the end she could only grit her teeth and say, "Room 304."

With an odd gaze the boy looked Ruth up and down, "You're the type Larry likes? Can't say I understand. Alright, follow me."

Then stepping out from behind the counter he lead the way.

Once again Ruth couldn't help but resist the urge to run away, but seeing the knife stuck into the counter and remembering Ava behind her, she reluctantly squeezed onto Elly's hand before following the youth.

Upon arriving at the room, Ruth was somewhat pleasantly surprised to see that although the establishment looked shabby, the actual rooms seemed to be quite well furnished, with a massive well cushioned bed in the center of the room, and even a small adjoined room with a two small twin sized beds. Stepping into the adjoined room, Ruth couldn't help but realize that the walls seemed to be padded extra thick, and turning her gaze back into the main room she saw a couple of ropes hanging off the legs of bed.

Blushing furiously, Ruth seemed to realize that the guard might use this room quite regularly. This wouldn't do, this wouldn't do at all. As she was about to turn around and pick up Elly to sprint for it, she suddenly realized with a fright. Where, where had Ava gone?

"Gale?"

Outside the building, Ava had left almost the moment Ruth had turned her back and started climbing the stairs. She had no interest in staying with Ruth and Elly any longer then she needed to.

She had simply suggested that they head over to the inn because she had a feeling that the guard had come from the slums, and there was a high possibility that the establishment that he frequented would be nearby. Of course, she didn't have much evidence to support this guess, but she also had nothing to lose if she was wrong. Worst case she'd just walk around with the clueless mother and daughter pair for awhile longer before finding some other point to slip away.

Entering the endless alleyways and smelling the rancid air, although Ava wasn't pleased to admit it, she suddenly felt like a loach in water and quickly disappeared into the endless winding alleyways.