Meera's teeth remained firmly gritted together as she wove her way easily through the streets of Balefire. It was crowded tonight, moreso than she might have wished. This was way out of her element. Meera tried to stick mainly to the good parts of Imythess. This did not at all mean that she was scared. Meera knew full well that she could handle herself on these streets. It was just an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. The reason why Meera had come in the first place was just to check in and see what was happening around these parts. She couldn't very well always avoid it. Since she knew she would not fit in wearing any of her normal attire, Meera had dressed for the occaision. She wore tight black leather pants and a matching corset. Over that, she wore her glorious cloak. The hood was drawn up around her face as to sheild it for anyone that just might recognize her. All one could see of her face right now were a few locks of her amber hair and a dark shadow. Meera walked swiftly down the streets, the heels of her boots clicking rapidly as she made her way towards her destination. She would feel much better once she had reached the tavern. Knowing that she must keep alert while in this town, Meera's golden emerald eyes sweeped the streets around her. She was ever watchful for anything suspicious that could mean her harm, or even anything that showed interest in her whatsoever. Interest here more than often meant bad news for whoever was interesting. When some sort of shady figure brushed past her and turned its similarly hooded head, Meera growled under her breath. The thing seemed to get the message and turned back to its own path. Meera's eyes shifted around once more. They imedietely latched upon the welcome amethyst sight of the Purple Lantern Tavern. She hurridly picked up her pace and slipped onto the bar scene.

And when she entered, that's exactly what she found it to be. It was easy for her to get a table. Most of the people in here, which was quite a lot, were gathered around the bar and the tables in front of it. The small tables to the side were barely occupied, and where they were, it was by shady folks just watching. Meera was about to join their ranks. But just then she heard the door open right behind her. Eager to get out of the way, Meera turned to see who it was and simultaneously step to the side. The combination of her movements cause the hood of her cape to flip back. The full mass of her hair fell down over her shoulders and just for a moment, Meera's eyes flashed brilliantly. Not missing a beat, and not wanting to seem too eager, Meera tugged the hood back up. It was horrible timing though. Everyone else had been looking to see the newcomer and they had also caught a glimpse of her face. All Meera could hope for now was that no one had recognized her. She didn't think many would, but one never really know. Meera began walking once again and slid into an empty two-person table. Hopefully this would dissuade anyone from joining her.

She was horribly wrong though. A large burly man with purple eyes to match that of the tavern itself lumbered over to lean across the table in front of Meera. He lifted up a hand and moved to brush back her hood, but Meera leaned back. He would not lay a hand on her, but Meera didn't want to risk blowing her cover. She would avoid physically harming him for the moment. The man simply acted as if she had not dodged him, and said "Why would a such a pretty lass like you wish to hide her face? Maybe a few drink'll warm you up. Come on, there are no seats, but I got one for ya right here." And with that, he stood up an patted his thighs with a wheezing laugh that suggested that he thought he was funny. Meera rolled her eyes and wrinkled her face in disgust. She said "You know, I really thought people would be smart enough to take my cloak and the table as a sign that I really would not like company tonight. Especially from your lot," and she motioned towards the other men at the bar. The man's tough smile faltered a bit as he took a step towards her and growled putting his face right up next to hers. He said "Now look, I don't want to cause yeh any trouble here, but it's not beneath me to get yeh over there by force." Meera remained silent for a moment and then got right back in his face with, "You know, you're lucky I have self restraint. I suggest that YOU leave right now." The man laughed right in her face and turned to the side and spit right on the ground. He grabbed ahold of both Meera's forearms and said, "What do ya say we go?" Meera's eyes narrowed and flashed glaring into his. Things were about to get messy.

The Purple Lantern Tavern was full of noise, and filled with patrons. It was one of many busy nights, and the owners of the tavern were eagerly counting the money that they were bringing in. In one corner of the room, a large group of men were singing loudly. Their choice of song as well as the fact that they kept swaying back and forth proved to onlookers that they were steadily drinking their way into insensibility. One member of their group was a sturdy dwarf, and while he was singing with as much vigor as the rest of the group, a person who was watching carefully would notice that he hesitated every once in a while. Now, a careless onlooker might think that to simply be the drink taking effect, but if you paid attention long enough, you noticed that the dwarf stopped singing every time the song became inappropriate. To cover the fact, the dwarf was taking long swills from his mug of beer. It might simply be a coincidence, but it wasn't.

Ahren shrugged his shoulders, still adjusting to the body of a dwarf. A winged elf would have stuck out like a sore thumb in a place like this, and he didn't want to stick out. So, he had disguised himself as a dwarf, a person who would always be welcomed into a drinking circle. So far, Ahren had managed not to slip up enough that anyone would notice, but he had come perilously close a few times. He had never realized just how hard it was to be a dwarf. The beard, for instance, it went everywhere, and it itched like fire. Half the time he went for a drink, his beard ended up going into the mug. Quaffing was another thing that was harder than it looked. How were you supposed to have any drink left, if you were waving it around while you were singing? The beer splashed everywhere, leaving him with less than half a mug. Personally, Ahren thought that quaffing had been invented by tavern owners. They knew that the drunk men would lose half of their beer, meaning that in order to get the same amount that they normally would, a man had to buy two mugs of beer! It was amazing that no one had caught on to it yet.

At the end of the song, everyone slammed their mugs down onto the table at roughly the same time. It was "roughly the same time" because face it, the men were mostly drunk. Absenting himself from the group, Ahren turned around just in time to get a glimpse of a woman entering the tavern. Somehow, he managed to control himself enough to simply continue over to the bar. If someone had told him that he would see the Goddess of Water at the tavern that night, he would have thought they were crazy. What was Meera doing there? This was hardly the kind of place where she would normally be, and unless she was intending on informing everyone in the tavern of who she was, she was going to have some trouble. Some of the men would take one look at her and immediately start figuring out how to catch her. Dropping a few coins on the bar, Ahren grabbed another drink and turned to see a large man confronting Meera. Great, now what is going to happen? With a soft sigh, Ahren set off towards where Meera was sitting. At least he could try and make sure that whatever she did was discreet.

Ahren clearly heard the words that passed between Meera and the man, although he doubted anyone else had heard all of it. When the man spoke quietly to Meera, Ahren groaned inwardly. Now he knew that he needed to interfere, otherwise he thought Meera might kill this fool. The easiest way to stop the man would be to simply hit him over the head with the mug that Ahren held, but that would be a signal for all hell to break loose. A few people noticed his path and guessed where he was going, they smartly began edging towards the exit. Apparently they thought that he was going to teach the man a lesson by burying his face into the floorboards a few times. Well, if that was what it took, then Ahren would not hesitate long. When he was still a few feet away, Ahren saw the man reach forward and grab Meera. Seeing the man's death coming very soon, Ahren dashed forward, closing the distance swiftly. His feet pounded on the floorboards, and he jumped up into the air, grabbing on to the back of the man's shirt. Swinging his mug around as hard as he could, he brought it crashing in to the back of the man's head.

Meera, in fact, had the man's death planned out. She was simply going to knock him out and drag him outside. She figured that the men in the the bar would be used to females that could handle themselves. After all, it wasn't too uncommon these days, and plus, it was Balefire. Meera took in a deep breath and was just about to wrench her arms out of the man's grasp when she spied a dwarf come up behind the man and execute a much to perfect manuever that knocked the man out. Meera was somewhat distracted by the dwarf and almost forgot to pry the man's hands off of her. As he fell to the ground, she was tugged forcefully up a bit until the man's grip slipped off. Meera irritably sat back down at her chair and threw a glance at the dwarf. Who did he think he was? Did he believe that now, since he had gotten rid of the man, he was her savior and therefore deserved a reward? That was happening. Not anytime. Not ever in this lifetime. Meera had no respect for guys who expected to recieve payment with every little thing they did no matter how big or small. That was greedy and disgusting. Little pigs. Meera's jaw clenched in anger as she glared now at the dwarf. It was an effort, but she managed to keep her voice low enough not to be heard as she said, "What was that for? I had everything under control. I can handle myself." She sighed deeply and her eyes blazed voilently. Saying no more, Meera got up and grabbed the large man's two arms and dragged him to the door. Many men in the bar turned, curiousity gleaming as if they weren't sure what she would do with them. Meera paid them no mind and pushed open the door with her back and simply dragged the man down out the steps into the street. Okay, sure, maybe it was a little harsh. He had no respect though. Maybe he would learn a lesson. Oh wait, no, that dwarf had knocked him out. He still would be the same. He still wasn't aware that females were just as lethal.

With renewed frustration, Meera walked back into the tavern. She whiped off her hands on her pants and straightened out her corset. Now she had the dwarf to deal with. She remained standing and looked down upon him, "Who are you? You did me no good." Hands on her hips, Meera glared one last time and said with finality, "If you think you're getting anything out of this, you are sadly and sickly mistaken." With that, she drew her hood further down her face and whirled on her heel to take her seat once more. Rapping on the table to get a waiter's attention, Meera quickly brought one to her. Voice still rough and uncaring, she demanded, " red wine please". As if hearing her own voice for the first time, Meera was taken aback. She had never been so cold before. Well....she had been angry at sporatic points in her life, but it was just odd now. It was amazing how much just a city setting could do to her. Relaxing back into her chair, Meera looked back at the crowd by the bar. They were a ragged folk, but their eyes were wide. Great, what would happen now? Sure, they had seen the dwarf knock out the other man, but it didn't seem as if that man had any friends. Sadly, that statement was immedietly made wrong when another burly man rose and motioned, bringing forth two other shady people. Growling under her breath, Meera hoped that they would take care of the dwarf problem for her. It was him they were mad at, not her, right? Once more, Meera was wrong. The leader had his eyes set on her, while the others eyed the dwarf. And then suddenly, their gazes switched. Meera immedietely tensed and straightened in her seat. She didn't know who she would have to fight yet. Looking towards the dwarf with loathing though, Meera immedietely decided that his fight was his problem. He HAD brought it on himself after all.

Standing up on her feet, Meera went with her best bet. She flashed the leader a sickeningly sweet smile and said "I didn't know the tavern offered such handsome men to entertain their guests." For a moment, she thought she had taken the wrong aproach when the man simply stared and blinked, but then a smile was coaxed out of him. He said "Only for you m'lady". Meera stifled a bit of bile that came up her throat. Oh this was sick. As soon as she had his guard down, she would strike.

Ahren watched as the man he had brained fell to the floor, checking to make sure that the man was indeed unconcious. Satisfied, he turned to look up at Meera, wondering how she would react. He had been about to say something to her, but the words died on his lips when he saw Meera. She obviously didn't welcome his help, and she just as obviously could easily explode if he pressed her too hard. At her blistering accusation, Ahren sighed quietly, honestly surprised at the venom that filled her voice. Who was this woman, how had Meera become this way. The Meera that Ahren had known would never have acted in such a way, she would have welcomed a way out of such a situation without causing any bloodshed. For some reason, Meera was out looking for blood, she would welcome a fight where she knew that she could easily kill everyone in the area. Stepping back slightly, Ahren turned and watched as the Goddess dragged the unconcious man out into the street. Something had her acting in such a hostile manner, and Ahren wanted to find out what it was.

At her questions, Ahren remained silent, a hurt feeling coming over him. At the same time, he was filled with a profound sense of sadness. He was hurt that Meera would treat him in such a way, even if she didn't know who he was. He was sad because it filled him with sorrow to see such a change in someone that he had once called "friend". Hearing the scraping of chairs, Ahren turned to look at the rest of the patrons. Sure enough, a group of three men were heading towards them, obviously looking for some payback for what was done to their friend. Letting out a small sigh, Ahren took a step forward, glaring up at the three men. "Now listen here, I ain't got time for any foolishness, not from the likes o' you three." For a moment, Ahren wondered what he was going to do if they kept coming forward. He would have to defend himself in some way, but he didn't want to harm the men. They were simply fools, and the world was filled with them, but that was no reason to kill them. Whatever he was going to do, he was more concerned about Meera

Without even turning to face her, Ahren whispered a message for her, sending it to her on the wind so that only she would hear it. "How you have changed, my old friend. It saddens me to see you filled with such anger." With that said, Ahren turned his attention back to the three men in front of the two deities. Shaking his head slightly, Ahren burst into action, running forward. Covering the few feet in between the two groups in a matter of seconds, Ahren launched himself into the air, using his own body as a projectile to attempt to knock the men off of their feet. If he was going to be forced to fight, then he wanted to end this as quickly as possible without hurting them too much. However, he wasn't going to let anyone harm either him or his friends. He would see these three mortals destroyed before he let that happen.