Best Pie in Town

Tyr and Macha used their mounts to ride into town. Macha looked at the colorful shops that lined the streets. They painted them in bright colors of pinks, purples, blues, and greens. Unlike Marseille, the shop owners in Jimbaran stood outside and waited patiently for you to enter. They would quietly welcome you and offer you a drink or snack.

Tyr followed Macha around, letting her choose the shops they entered. She wanted to pick up some Ogoun rum for everyone back home. It was a gift unique to Jimbaran and was crafted with local honey and fruits. It impressed Macha that they aged each bottle for fifty years.

When she asked Tyr if there was anyone else they should buy a bottle for, he initially said no. After a bit, he began to feel guilty about his earlier outburst and added another bottle to the ones they would buy. He planned to leave it behind in the villa with a note, apologizing for being difficult.

While they waited for their order to be tallied up, Macha asked the shop attendant where he enjoyed eating. The ramidreju told her of a small tavern that had the best pies in town but explained that it was not the type of place for someone like them. He explained that it was a shabby tavern which lay in a bad part of town.

Seeing that Macha wanted to go to the establishment, Tyr asked for the directions and insisted that it would be fine. This being his second time to Jimbaran, he found himself curious about where the locals ate.

After they purchased their rum, they arranged for someone to deliver the order to the villa. They then set out to try the pies the ramidreju had raved about. Macha let Tyr lead the way. She thought it would be exciting going off the beaten path and saw this as a small adventure.

In this part of town, the road lay unpaved, and the shops had bars on their windows. Many of the buildings did not have paint, and some had broken windows. Many of the businesses had living quarters above. Above the streets were lines where people hung their laundry to dry. Tyr eventually found the tavern after taking a few wrong turns.

The two-story building was unpainted, and the wood looked worn from the weather. Inside the tavern a young ramidreju greeted them. His fur lacked a fine luster to it, and he looked tired. "Welcome. My name is Unai, what can I get for ya?"

Macha moved to sit down. "We heard you make a good pie. Could we get a slice of your most popular pie, please?"

Hearing her order confused Tyr. He did not come all the way here for one slice. He adjusted Macha's order, "One slice of each flavor."

As they waited, Tyr stood up to use the restroom. He had brushed a few crumbs off the table and wanted to wash his hands. By no means was this the cleanest establishment, and he understood why the shop attendant tried to convince him not to come.

While Tyr was washing his hands, a gang of ramidreju entered the tavern. When Unai came out to greet them, his fur shot up and his tail went between his legs. He quickly glanced up at his mother's bedroom and hoped she would not come out.

Macha noted how something did not seem right with his reaction. When she looked at the ramidreju that entered, they pressed their ears flat against their head and sneered at Unai. They did not look very friendly and moved with a dangerous swagger.

The leader of the gang stalked forward. "Unai, gimmie the money. Your bitch of a mom ran off again without paying. Alarico ain't happy, says I gotta rough you up a bit." After saying this he cracked his knuckles.

The obvious threat caused Macha to stand up. She understood that Unai's mother did not pay for something, but to beat someone up for it was uncalled for. They just needed to collect the money. "Excuse me," she called, "He's currently working. Just let him pay for his mother's debt and leave him alone. There's no reason to attack him."

The leader made a motion to one of his cronies and the man walked over to Macha. This ramidreju dyed his hair blonde and had multiple piercings in his snout. Without warning, he swung his pole at Macha's head.

The pole almost hit her, but Macha ducked in time. She wished that Unai had given them their silverware because she did not have her weapons. Macha dashed to put some range between her and the pole user. She looked around for something to use as a weapon but saw nothing within reach.

The leader snarled, "Levina, go help Segundo deal with that woman. I'll take care of Unai." He swaggered up to Unai who had his back against a table. On his way, he dragged his claws along the table, letting them make a dull scraping sound.

Macha could hear the pounding of Unai's flesh as he was beaten with a pole, but she had her hands full. The two ramidrejus, Levina and Segundo, stood on either side of her. Macha made a move to run to Tyr, but Segundo cut her off.

Segundo swung his metal pole at Macha's head. Like the first time, she dodged, but this time Levina swung her pole at Macha's ribs at the same time. She felt a strong hit to her ribs, and it took her breath away. She tried to regain her balance but when she breathed in, pain shot through her body.

While she was bent over from the pain, Segundo raised his pole and hit Macha on her back. This caused her to fall to the wooden floor and the pain she felt in her ribs doubled.

Tyr kicked the bathroom door open. He did not want to touch it because the door looked filthy. When the door swung open, he the first thing he witnessed was Macha on the floor and two ramidrejus about to hit her. Tyr dashed forward and grabbed the poles in the air as they descended upon her. He shoved them back at the wielders and the ends hit the attackers in their stomachs.

Levina and Segundo both let go of their poles and clutched their stomachs. They did not see the man enter the room and did not know where he came from. Levina vomited and dropped to her knees. Segundo staggered back and rested against a table to catch his breath.

Seeing Macha being beaten up made Tyr furious. When he spotted Unai being beaten senseless, and he quickly moved to help him. On his way to Unai, Tyr hit Segundo across the arm and Segundo went flying across the room. His arm was bent, and he clutched it, crying out in pain.

Tyr threw one of the poles to the ground and held the other one by its ends. He brought it around the leader's neck to choke him. "Who are you and what the hell do you think you're doing?" Tyr demanded through gritted teeth as he raised the ramidreju up off the ground.

Through choked words, the ramidreju replied, "I'm Yago! Just a collector!" Yago's feet kicked in the air and he tried to squirm out of the hold.

Tyr heard Macha moan. He let the ramidreju fall to the ground and said, "Get out." His voice was low, and the room seemed to drop a few degrees by the icy stare he gave them. He did not want this to get out of hand, so he chose to let them go.

Yago and his cronies ran out of the tavern without hesitation. They could come back later and deal with Unai and his mother.

Tyr watched the gang leave and moved next to Macha, who knelt on the ground. Worry covered his face and his asked tenderly, "Macha, are you all right?" It worried him that she looked like she was in pain and her face was slightly pale. He placed a hand under her elbow to help her stand, but she waved him away.

In a soft voice, she whispered, "Let me catch my breath for a bit. Check on Unai, he had it worse than me." Macha motioned with her head towards the direction Unai lay. Tyr hesitated for a second but went to check on the boy. When he left her side, she winced in pain. Every breath hurt and she was pretty sure she cracked a rib or two. Macha stood up and made her way slowly to Tyr and Unai.

The beating had swelled Unai's eyes shut and his nose was bleeding. The young ramidreju groaned and blacked out. Tyr looked at Macha after assessing the boy, "I think he'll be fine, but I should get a medic for you two. What happened? I went to the restroom to wash my hands. I wasn't gone very long."

Macha pulled out a chair and sat down carefully. "Those three came in and wanted to beat Unai up because his mother owed them money. The situation didn't seem right, so I spoke up against him getting beaten up. That's when they turned on me."

Unai had regained consciousness and overheard their conversation. He needed to explain the situation to the two tourists. He felt bad that the woman had gotten hurt. "My mother is addicted to a drug those guys make. I try to stop her, but they keep seeking her out. I'm sorry you got hurt. Let me pay for a medic to see you." Unai staggered up and headed to the back to find the gold he hid away.

When Unai left the room, Macha narrowed her eyes. She wanted to do something about this gang. She looked over at Tyr. He was looking at the door and a troubled look covered his face. He seemed to be weighing something on his mind. Before Macha could say anything he stood up.

Tyr was not sure what to do. Macha seemed hurt, but he wanted to deal with the gang. He knew he had the power to help and it would be bad if he stood by and did nothing. This may not be Marseille, but that did not make it any less of a problem. Looking at Macha with guilt in his eyes, he asked, "Macha, would you be angry if I left you here for a while? I want to see what I can do about that gang." He worried that Macha would be angry because he wanted to help. Fenrir used to stop him from doing this sort of thing all the time, she explained that it was a waste of time and he should only worry about those important to him.

The corners of Macha's lips turned up. She understood what Tyr thought. He had a high moral code and could not turn a blind eye to the problem. "Go ahead. I'll watch over Unai and report back on the pie tasting. But you better be careful." Tyr moved to give her a quick hug. Pain shot through her body, but she just smiled and hid the pain. She did not want him to realize how badly she had been hurt or he might not want to go.

Unai came back after Tyr left. He held a small wooden box that had shells fastened to the outside with hardened tree sap. He pulled out two gold coins and held them out to Macha. "This is all I have. It should be enough for a doctor to give you a checkup. I'm sorry this happened. Please don't take this as a reflection of our country. I'm just a useless good for nothing with a useless mother. We're bad examples of our people."

Macha pushed his hand back. She did not need his small savings. She knew that two gold to him was his world, but two gold to her was nothing. "Thank you for your offer, but I chose to intervene. What happened to me was my fault, not yours. Don't worry about it." Seeing that he began to shake his head no, she changed the subject. "I still want to try a slice of every pie you make. This is my first time in Jimbaran and I have heard only good things about it. Could you bring the slices out?"

Unai forgot all about Macha's order. "I'm sorry! I forgot. You can have as much as you like for free. Don't worry about paying. I'll be right back." He scurried to the kitchen to fetch the order she placed.