Open The Bilge In The Bucket Lute in the Bucket

Fearful and out of their depth with so many beasts making for them in what had at first seemed an amiable place, Till drew up to their full height and roared.

"Arrêtez!"

They swung out with their pan and smacked the first one to get near them.
 
Asta was shaken enough from her panic by Pomodu addressing her that she tore her gaze from the crowd and turned to the red panda. Though she couldn't understand what the beast said, there was a clear intent being expressed by her body language and expression. Asta ducked another flung bottle and fairly threw herself at Pomodu, careful of her lute.

She was startled by the sound of a loud bong! as somebeast was dropped by the pan-wielding badger. Looking past the large beast, Asta saw a flash of white.

"Caden!" she yelled, relief surging through her. She pointed to the albino marten struggling his way through the crowd with the todd lutist. She grabbed Pomodu's arm and pointed. "My father!"

In the crowd, where the first beast went down to Till's pan, his four remaining comrades jumped at her to avenge their companion.
 
Silvertongue went to help Caden clear a path, but upon hearing the roar of the badger, he froze in place. His eyes grew white with terror, and he scrambled under a table, curling up into a ball, his tail tucked between his legs. His heart was racing, and he struggled to catch his breath, clutching his lute. He stifled soft anguished cries, trying to calm himself down but to no avail. His whole body trembled, his chest heaving, the sounds of the battle drowned out by an incessant whine in his ears, as if a cannon had just been shot over his head.
 
A tap and a point from Asta was all that it took to set Pomodu in motion. She got to her footpaws, air rushing into the vacuum beneath her tail to relieve the flattened weasel assailant who had been on the verge of making history for the world's most humiliating death. Carefully the red panda adjusted Asta, clutching her to her chest, and then, putting out her paw before her, charged into the fray. The smart beasts saw a Giftsgiving-colored battering ram coming towards them and leaped out of its way, while the distracted or unlucky found out what it would feel like to be struck by a runaway wagon loaded with three hundred pounds of downy pillows. Beasts didn't so much find themselves trampled by Pomodu as trampolining off of her, flung into chairs, tables, or other unfortunate beasts. The charging mountain of fluff was proving herself to be a wrecking ball made of foam and felt, crashing through the environment with a shockingly soft touch.

Reaching the indicated albino beast, Pomodu deposited Asta gently before her father, her tail inadvertently sending a bystander flying three yards as it swished excitedly. "Hee you go," she proclaimed, smiling as if she hadn't just left a dozen beasts with psychological wounds that would leave them unable to touch a soft surface without screaming. "Sa'fe."
 
Caden swore as his newfound companion lost his nerve and dove under a table. He noted the presence of the badger, that they had entered the fight, and he hoped they stayed on that side of the room with whatever idiots decided to accost them. Badgers weren't uncommon where he had lived in Varangia--one of the officers he worked with at the military outpost was a badger--but he had seen the kind of damage they could do on a battlefield, and he was not keen on getting near the pan-wielding specimen several tables over from him.

Then something large and fluffy and red and green was barreling towards him, sending beasts scattering and toppling. Caden felt an instinct like perhaps he should jump under the table with the cowering fox. However, he noted who the stranger carried in her arms. He thought to go to her, but she was so effective at what she did, it did not take long for her to deposit Asta in front of Caden.

Terrified yet exhilarated, Asta was both crying and laughing as she threw an arm around her father. The albino held her tight, heart hammering in his chest as relief flooded over him. They spoke to each other in Varangian.

"Asta! What are you doing here? Are you hurt?"

"I'm not hurt. Oh, I'm so glad you're here. I thought I was going to get stabbed or dragged off by one of these--these--"
She scowled and gestured to the room at large with her lute.

Caden frowned. "This is why I told you not to come here, not alone. I'm just glad you're okay." He turned his attention to Pomodu, whose presence had created something of a buffer zone from the press of the crowd. Though, the fighting itself had begun to peter out throughout the tavern, save for in several particularly vicious pockets of activity.

"Thank you," he said to the red panda, looking up at her. "I owe you a great debt for rescuing my daughter."
 
Till snarled as she was leapt upon by the group. Hardly knowing where her stamina came from, she elbowed one and caught another under the chin with the pan. The other two clung fast to her, thumping and biting, forcing her to hobble round and round in an increasingly fast circle in the hope of spinning them off.

"Leave me alone!"
 
Pomodu just smiled cheerfully as she waved a paw dismissively. "I'su no turoboh!" she exclaimed. She turned as she noticed the struggles of the badger, and she put up a pawfinger. "I go," she excused herself, and then barreled through the crowd.

Reaching the badger was the easy part; figuring out what to do was the hard part. With her spinning frantically, Pomodu couldn't reach in and pull any of the attackers off. Instead she grabbed up a chair from a nearby table and, waiting, observed the momentum of Till's swing. At the nearest moment she could judge to be correct, she swung with her chair, hoping to knock one of the attackers off.
 
As the red panda took her leave, Asta kept close to Caden. He put an arm about her shoulders and took stock of the tavern, trying to see the best path to the door. Asta pointed to a table where the lute-toting fox was hiding.

"We should see if he's alright. He did defend me, at least until he jumped off the stage and started the fight."

Caden scowled, but nodded. And together they made their way through the mess of scattered and broken furniture and injured beasts, broken glass crunching under their footpaws. Arriving at the table, Asta leaned down and peered at Silvertongue.

"You hurt?" she asked.
 
Silvertongue snapped out of whatever stupor he had been trapped in, his eyes wild and scared. Without a word, he scrambled out from under the table.

“Th-the badger.” He muttered fearfully. “I need to get the Hellgates out of here.” He rushed forward, brute forcing a path through the crowd of beasts in a desperate attempt to get to the door, to get as far away from here as fast as he possibly could.
 
Pomodu's intervention had the desired effect. The chair dealt one of Till's climbers a hefty enough blow to careen them off her and across the room. It was also sufficient to destabilise the spinning badger into toppling over and squashing one who had been yanking at her pan arm. The last one had the sense to scramble away on realising they had got into a fight with two monstrosities.

Shaking their dazed head, Till blinked and sat up. They ignored the whoopee cushion groan of the creature they moved off.

"Oof. Thank you, my friend."
 
Pomodu was pleased to see that she'd hit her target; she hadn't intended to knock Till over, but at least the badger didn't seem to bear her any ill will. The red panda reached down to offer a paw up, smiling congenially at the fellow combatant - and, per her address, now her friend. "You welucamu!" she trilled, her voice rising and falling through the notes of the response. She looked about, taking note of the chaos. "Di'su i'su di Valupin'sula way?" she remarked, seemingly disconcerted. She'd heard tales of how Vulpinsulans would fight at the drop of a hat, but somehow she'd imagined it with far more energy blasts, martial arts, and headfur flaring and changing color.
 
Asta looked to Caden in question at the todd's behavior, but the albino merely shook his head, took her paw, and followed in Silvertongue's wake. The three exited the Bilge onto the street. Asta caught up to Silvertongue.

"Fox," she called out, putting a paw on his shoulder. "Wait."

Caden was beside her again, hovering closely and scowling at the todd. Asta elbowed her adoptive father lightly.

"Be nice. He tried to help."

"He started a brawl and you nearly got hurt."

"I still want to thank him. Can you translate for me?"


With some hesitation, Caden nodded. "But then we're going home."
 
Silvertongue was standing doubled over on the street, paws on his knees. His chest heaved as he gasped for air. He turned to Asta, his face flush. Was it shame or embarrassment? It was hard to tell.

"I'm sorry- I am so sorry." He started, straightening up. "I just started swinging without even considering if you'd be okay- and then I panicked- that badger." He held his head. "I shouldn't have run away while you were still in danger. Please, forgive me." He bowed deeply to her,
 
Asta glanced at Caden, who translated the fox's apology. She lifted her paws in a placating gesture.

"No sorry," she said, then gestured to Caden. "My father, um, talk for me."

Caden folded his paws over his chest and listened as Asta spoke to him in Varangian, then he in turn spoke to Silvertongue. "Asta would like to thank you for playing with her. She says she enjoyed making music with you and would be interested in doing more at some point. She also says that she appreciates you trying to help her with the beast who climbed onto the stage." He paused, frowning before he continued, an edge of a threat to his voice. "What I say, fox, is that if you do wish to play music with my daughter, it will not be at the Bilge ever again, aye?"
 
Accepting the help up, Till quickly checked themselves and their environment to be sure they hadn't hurt anyone too badly. Next they checked their pan, study as ever, not even a dent.

"I hope not," they said to Pomodu. "I had thought it was a little more civilised than my family's stories. Ah well, at least it is exciting, non?"

They smiled at Pomodu and rubbed at a bruised spot on their arm, hidden by fur.
 
Pomodu nodded, her eyes wide as she observed the spectacle of violence in this, the shrine so often frequented by the legends whose stories had become her whole personality. "Maybe," she suggested tentatively, "we co'me ba'cku lateh." She noticed that Asta, at least, had vacated the space, as had the fox minstrel.
 
Asta glanced at Caden, who translated the fox's apology. She lifted her paws in a placating gesture.

"No sorry," she said, then gestured to Caden. "My father, um, talk for me."

Caden folded his paws over his chest and listened as Asta spoke to him in Varangian, then he in turn spoke to Silvertongue. "Asta would like to thank you for playing with her. She says she enjoyed making music with you and would be interested in doing more at some point. She also says that she appreciates you trying to help her with the beast who climbed onto the stage." He paused, frowning before he continued, an edge of a threat to his voice. "What I say, fox, is that if you do wish to play music with my daughter, it will not be at the Bilge ever again, aye?"
Silvertongue cringed under Caden's gaze. Not playing at the Bilge? This place always got him the most money. How much that would slow down his efforts to repay his debt. "Sir- I'm not entirely sure why you're upset with me. I-I already apologized for starting a fight, even though it was to defend the honor of your daughter here." He felt himself physically shrinking, as if expecting to be struck at any moment. "I-I would be more than glad to play music with your daughter again sometime, maybe I could even offer some lute lessons? I am kind of in an awkward financial situation at the moment."

His eyes flitted around. He already said too much...
 
Caden raised an eyebrow at the anxious, apologetic vulpine. "Do what you want on your own time; play in the Bilge or not, I don't care. I just don't want Asta playing here, aye? It's not safe, as this entire situation is a testament to." He waved a paw in the direction of the tavern. Asta prodded his arm and spoke to him in Varangian.

"If you don't want me playing in the Bilge, he and I could play somewhere else, maybe closer to home. He's a good player. We could both make some money that way. You could even come along and make sure nothing happens."

The marten's expression softened and he nodded slowly. "Alright. Asta has a suggestion. If you're in need of money and are willing to split the take with her, she is interested in playing with you at a different, safer venue."
 
"I think zat would be a good plan," Till agreed with Pomodu. "I hope all my encounters here will not be so invigorating." They slotted the wielded pan back into their belt and adjusted their pack with the rest in, beginning to make for the door. "If I am lucky, I can sign up on a ship where my food will ease tensions. I cannot run away so easily out at sea." She offered Pomodu a smile and a rueful chuckle.
 
Pomodu's eyes brightened at the mention of a ship, following after. "You go to di Goh'de'n Hi'de!" she exclaimed. "Di sailusu ah ma'de fuom di Hi'desu o'f enemiesu wi't goh'd fuh! I'su bi'g a'su city!" She threw out her arms to emphasize the size, inadvertently knocking over a beast who, after falling into a coma during a fight in the Bilge three months prior, had only just regained consciousness and stood up to be rendered comatose by Pomodu for another three months.
 
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