It had been early day in the market when the Hollow Priestess made her way through in search of some dry fish and a loaf of bread. Neri was never one for excess, as was obvious by her plan clothing, plain hair, and lack of extravagant makeup. A few men off to the side, however, were muttering to themselves about how Neri had healed a man they had intended to kill. Worse was that they seemed personally offended at the plainness of the Tume elf. This brought the three men to approach her as she headed away from the market, and express their displeasure. Most of it sounded to be that she meddled in other people's business, and a few comments about her being a woman, and therefor, inferior. Neri put her head down and gave a small nod before speaking in a calm, quiet tone and all but shutting her sad eyes.
"I only wish to be on my way. I do not mean to offend."
A hand snatched out to grab her by the neck, though it met only open air as Neri swiveled her midsection and upper body in an almost snake-like motion. Attention tried to keep a balance between the three of them as she set her basket down with the food she had purchased. Another man attempted to grab her around the waste, catching little more than air as she slipped to the floor on her back. Legs twisted wide in a circle to shift her weight and balance about until she returned to her feet slightly outside of the circle of fellows whom had intended to surround her. The elvish agility on full display to any looker's on as she attempted to keep a fair distance.
"You don't...need to...do this."
She darted this way and that around the crowd as she attempted to avoid the hands that seemed to be sweeping out to snatch her or hit her. Long, slender, slightly toned arms rose to knock away a few of the hands as she continued to do her best to keep them from hurting her. Catching a man by the sleeve, she tugged him toward her so that his body ended up between herself and the kick of another attacker, causing an 'Ouughf' of pain to escape one. Backing up, she rolled her upper body up onto a box, twisting her upper body to stand on it, though catching the side of a stick to her outer thigh as one of the men opted to pick up something of a weapon and make use of it on the Hollow Priestess. This caused her to slip off the box where she had been intending to stand and falling onto the unforgiving dirt of the market floor. Grit and road dust kicked up onto the olive flesh of her face and into her eyes. This made it difficult to deal with the kick that found it's way into her stomach.
"Augh!"
The pain exploded from her middle outward. When the second one came, she tried to catch it and pin it between her ribs and bicep. As she did, she rolled and sent the attacker rolling over her. This saw him face-first into the box that she had failed to climb. She took a few gulping, coughing breaths as she made her way to her feet and stumbled backward. Seeing one of her attackers, she jumped off backward into him to knock him off balance. They were going to hurt her badly if she didn't start to actually apply a degree of offense. When the next fist came close to her face, she caught their sleeve and pulled them in, sending a foot to the side of his knee to bring him to the ground. Hand brought a chop down to the man's throat hard enough to disrupt his breathing, but not enough to break the cartilage of his throat. Impact landed right were the jaw met the neck, inducing a combination of nausea and labored breathing that would keep him busy for at least a few minutes. Still holding him by the sleeve, she widened her stance and gave a sharp downward tug, sending him into the dust and found the man cradling himself in the fetal position.
By now, the first one whom had initiated charged forward, catching her across the mouth hard enough that blood smeared her mouth as her inner cheek cut against her teeth. She staggered back a bit from the pain, but tried to keep her wits about her. A boot came across to her midsection, which she caught out of reflex as muscle memory saw her raising the kicking leg slightly higher as a skip-step brought a hard kick up to the attacker's genitals. As he fell to the ground, the only one left was the one whom had picked up a piece of wood and was coming back toward her. An arm came up to block the incoming blow, snapping the board and feeling a shot of pain through her as her forearm nearly gave way from the impact. Hand reeled back and shoved forward hard and low as she hammered her palm into the attacker's bottom rib. This was targeting the rib that was attached only with a thin strip of cartilage that broke off on impact and bounced the rib against the lung.
The attacker's eyes bulged out as he started to struggle to breathe. Each breath pressed lung against bone. He doubled over and fell to the ground as Neri stumbled back toward her basket...only to find it having been trampled by onlookers. Eyes looked a bit more sad as she saw the food she had just purchased get destroyed along with her basket. Arm cradling her side and blood still leaking from her mouth, she decided it might have been a mistake to press her luck. She needed to make some distance between herself and her attackers before they caught their breath and decided to make a second attempt. Healing herself was going to take time and patience, and would certainly be harder when hunger set in.
"I only wish to be on my way. I do not mean to offend."
A hand snatched out to grab her by the neck, though it met only open air as Neri swiveled her midsection and upper body in an almost snake-like motion. Attention tried to keep a balance between the three of them as she set her basket down with the food she had purchased. Another man attempted to grab her around the waste, catching little more than air as she slipped to the floor on her back. Legs twisted wide in a circle to shift her weight and balance about until she returned to her feet slightly outside of the circle of fellows whom had intended to surround her. The elvish agility on full display to any looker's on as she attempted to keep a fair distance.
"You don't...need to...do this."
She darted this way and that around the crowd as she attempted to avoid the hands that seemed to be sweeping out to snatch her or hit her. Long, slender, slightly toned arms rose to knock away a few of the hands as she continued to do her best to keep them from hurting her. Catching a man by the sleeve, she tugged him toward her so that his body ended up between herself and the kick of another attacker, causing an 'Ouughf' of pain to escape one. Backing up, she rolled her upper body up onto a box, twisting her upper body to stand on it, though catching the side of a stick to her outer thigh as one of the men opted to pick up something of a weapon and make use of it on the Hollow Priestess. This caused her to slip off the box where she had been intending to stand and falling onto the unforgiving dirt of the market floor. Grit and road dust kicked up onto the olive flesh of her face and into her eyes. This made it difficult to deal with the kick that found it's way into her stomach.
"Augh!"
The pain exploded from her middle outward. When the second one came, she tried to catch it and pin it between her ribs and bicep. As she did, she rolled and sent the attacker rolling over her. This saw him face-first into the box that she had failed to climb. She took a few gulping, coughing breaths as she made her way to her feet and stumbled backward. Seeing one of her attackers, she jumped off backward into him to knock him off balance. They were going to hurt her badly if she didn't start to actually apply a degree of offense. When the next fist came close to her face, she caught their sleeve and pulled them in, sending a foot to the side of his knee to bring him to the ground. Hand brought a chop down to the man's throat hard enough to disrupt his breathing, but not enough to break the cartilage of his throat. Impact landed right were the jaw met the neck, inducing a combination of nausea and labored breathing that would keep him busy for at least a few minutes. Still holding him by the sleeve, she widened her stance and gave a sharp downward tug, sending him into the dust and found the man cradling himself in the fetal position.
By now, the first one whom had initiated charged forward, catching her across the mouth hard enough that blood smeared her mouth as her inner cheek cut against her teeth. She staggered back a bit from the pain, but tried to keep her wits about her. A boot came across to her midsection, which she caught out of reflex as muscle memory saw her raising the kicking leg slightly higher as a skip-step brought a hard kick up to the attacker's genitals. As he fell to the ground, the only one left was the one whom had picked up a piece of wood and was coming back toward her. An arm came up to block the incoming blow, snapping the board and feeling a shot of pain through her as her forearm nearly gave way from the impact. Hand reeled back and shoved forward hard and low as she hammered her palm into the attacker's bottom rib. This was targeting the rib that was attached only with a thin strip of cartilage that broke off on impact and bounced the rib against the lung.
The attacker's eyes bulged out as he started to struggle to breathe. Each breath pressed lung against bone. He doubled over and fell to the ground as Neri stumbled back toward her basket...only to find it having been trampled by onlookers. Eyes looked a bit more sad as she saw the food she had just purchased get destroyed along with her basket. Arm cradling her side and blood still leaking from her mouth, she decided it might have been a mistake to press her luck. She needed to make some distance between herself and her attackers before they caught their breath and decided to make a second attempt. Healing herself was going to take time and patience, and would certainly be harder when hunger set in.
