The Afthonia Bazaar at nighttime was unlike any other night market in the lands, as far as Sharifa was concerned. The bright colours that would be out in the day were a bit more muted in the dark, but still were bright enough to stand out in the torch lamp lights. The mosaics in the walkways creating mandalas were somehow more enjoyable in the dark where their colours could be more appreciated. Or, perhaps, Sharifa had spent so much time in Sularia that she just took it for granted.

Seeing as Shar had no mission at this time and no leads to follow she had decided to come to the bazaar tonight and see the sights and maybe buy a trinket or two. Her usual cloak was around her hiding her body and her second set of arms, and the only weapons she carried were her beetle horn tonfas. She had no intention of leaving the city and since most people in the city were happy to have her around, helped by that most of them were also females, she felt safe here.

As the tall wasp woman walked around, she ended up chatting to a few people that she knew for a few minutes, catching up on a few things. At one-point Sharifa passed by a group of three women who she knew and they waved her over. ”Hello, ladies.” Shar greeted with a nod.

The said their hellos, the three of them worked in the Yellow District in one of the brothels. When Shar had first started to hang around the three of them would prod and bug her about her obvious lack of sexual interest and even sexual characteristics. The one time the one woman had even tried to grope where Shar’s chest would be, only to have the wasp almost knock her out cold. But that was years ago and things between Shar and the three of them had calmed down and they got along fine.

After speaking with them for quite some time Sharifa moved on and found, as per normal, a sweets vendor. Getting some treats, because she had nothing if not a sweet tooth, Sharifa continued to wonder around the market admiring all the shiny bobbles and trinkets that were on display.

Nighttime was something else here in Arri. It was a land where the day was warm and water was worth its weight in gold. Literal jewels lined the streets, showing what these people valued. Something so precious and exquisite would never be used as mere paving material in Ataiyo, not even for the ostentatiously rich. As she no longer needed to watch the shrine in Menomori, Sanaki had tasked herself to perform her duties where she was needed. Traveling to foreign lands and learning new things were part of the path one trod as a priestess. To her surprise, only her clothing was out of place in the desert nation's capital. She didn't catch a single glimpse of any men who weren't visitors like herself, and marveled at how the city was structured. The gardens here were a luxury with the surrounding lands a harsh forbidding desert. Since the people here were self-sufficient, there was no need for her services among the common folk. She had no intentions of staying permanently, and she felt it was time for her to move on to other lands.

Perhaps smaller villages and towns would require her aid more than Arri. Few settlements had individuals dedicated towards defend and dealing with mystical threats. Sanaki browsed the market as the evening dragged on, admiring the nighttime scenery. Buying a few trinkets for her fellow sisters back in Kujishoku couldn't hurt, and it had been weeks since she send back a letter. Standing before a stall with various pieces of jewelry, she pondered over what would be best. Her glaive was wrapped in a cloth and slung over on her back as she didn't want to give the impression that she was hostile. "Maybe I should buy some more sandalwood incense sticks before I go." She murmured as she eyed a beautiful ornamental hairpin with a tiger's eye cabochon. Once she left Sularia she would be hard-pressed to find a place that sold exotic products.

The beautiful thing about the Afthonia Bazaar was the fact the markets didn't take just silver, they also exchanged for items if they had anything of value. Dala had brought some rainbow wool from Onnen and was busily bartering it away for items and supplies. Currently, she was bartering with a general goods merchant who was offering her rations and a small bag of tin ore. The teenager knew that rainbow wool was a rare commodity, so they kept going back and forth until finally, they managed to settle on an agreed deal. The merchant would throw in two ivory to make the deal fair. Once they both agreed on the terms, they made the trade and Dala ended up with some ivory. She later traded the ivory for a new set of throwing daggers and a variety of potions. 

"Time to get a snack." She muttered. 

There was a fruit stall selling fresh exotic fruits. Green grapes where piled next to the deep red pomegranates and the pile of deep purple figs were right next to the cactus fruit. Dala bought herself a bag of figs then moved on to the other stalls. Thousands of brilliant stars dazzled above as the market colors were vibrant and powerful. Each stall seemed to compete with the other in its colorfulness and beauty. They all wanted to be the one who stood out to customers. Oddly enough, this colorful spectacle fit perfectly together, like some sort of visual symphony. Dala tossed a fig into her mouth, unaware most people would use a spoon or peel it first. Still, the skin was tasty enough and it had a slightly sweet flavor and a strangely unique texture. 

She passed a stall that sold gorgeous pieces of jewelry. The teenager stopped for a moment to have a look at these trinkets. There were golden bangles, amethysts glittering on silver rings, an amber pendant with the fossil of a spider inside, a brooch in the form of a peacock with hundreds of sapphire feathers, and a hundred other pieces of unique jewelry. Dala took a look to her left and noticed a pink haired lady inspecting a beautiful hairpin. The inexperienced teenager automatically assumed the lady was debating on whether she should buy it for herself or just to leave it be. 

"You should get that. Treat yourself, you know?" Dala said, unhelpfully. 

From the corner of the girl's eye, she thought she spotted a familiar figure. A unique cloak and a certain movement that seemed familiar to her. With curiosity driving the young girl forwards, she rushed after Sharifa and accidentally left her bag of delicious figs on the jewelry stall. For a while, Dala just followed behind Sharifa until she was able to catch up. There wasn't a real good way of seeing if her friend was under that cloak, but Dala had an idea. 

"Sharifa!" She called out. 

If it was her friend, the individual would respond to the name. 

When Sharifa heard her name called she stopped in her tracks and turned, she knew that voice. ”Dala.” The wasp replied with a friendly smile as the young human came over. The adventure the two of them had shared had been something to remember that was for sure. Sharifa was glad that she had been the one to accompany Dala to that buried mansion and explore it. It had been something much different that Sharifa had been used to working, even if she had been on some time off at that time. But, it had all been worth it. ”How have you been doing? What brings you to Sularia?” She asked turning to face Dala.

As the two conversed a small commotion started up among the shoppers and the muttering and odd looks were enough to catch Shar’s attention. ”What’s going on?” She questioned, having to pause her conversation with Dala, but she didn’t need to go to far to see what was causing the commotion.

Walking gracefully over towards Sharifa were two of the Sidama tribe, butterflies as they would known in common, a male and female. The male was over six feet tall, lean and well built, wearing no shirt, showing off his darker skin that had a violet hue to it and midnight blue butterfly wings on his back. The female was wearing a light skirt and a light top and with the reddish hue in her skin and the red in her wings she looked like a monarch butterfly, and she was only a few inches shorter than her companion. Both of them, like Sharifa, had jet black eyes, but the beauty they held in their natural grace and physical appearance could not be denied.

Sharifa glanced to Dala for a moment before looking back to the Sidama as they came, with clear intent, towards the Wasp once they saw her. Wait, Shar knew these two, they had met before! As they approached Shar cocked her head to one side in question. ”Greetings, marafiki, it is good to see you again.” Sharifa greeted.

As they came over Shar tensed, something wasn’t right in the way they were moving, they were too stiff but trying to act like they weren’t. The female managed a smile and reached her hands out in greeting which Sharifa took and they hugged, Shar using all four arms. ”Salamu, rafiki Sharifa.” She replied and stepped back to her companion.

The male bowed to Sharifa and then glanced to Dala for a moment. ”Leave us, mtoto.”

Sharifa frowned. ”She is rafiki, and hardly a child.” She informed him. What was going on?

Before he said anything more the female reached out to take Shar’s hands again, it was a gesture of caring and friendship. ”Samahani, rafiki, walitulazimisha kukutafuta. Wana marafiki wetu, hatukuwa na chaguo. Tafadhali, utusamehe.” She spoke leaning over to kiss Shar’s cheek before stepping back with a saddened face.

Sharifa could only stare at the butterfly woman for a moment in puzzlement, oh she knew what the woman had said. That was right, it was not just these two that Sharifa had met that time, it was also another Sidama couple with them, that same night she had encounter Zanar again after the war. So their friends had been taken, but by who and why had they been forced to find Sharifa. The female seemed to look at something behind Sharifa for a second and then went back to the arms of her companion.

In that moment Shar’s danger sense triggered, in her distraction talking to the butterflies she had not noticed a hooded figure had come up close among the crowd. She used her lower arms to reach for her tonfas while her upper arms shoved her cloak out of the way and her stingers snapped out her wrists as she turned. It almost slow motion in her mind her heard the clonk of metal striking against the beetle horn of her tonfa as she barely managed to catch the sword that had been coming for her.

Her wings flared on her back as she unclipped her cloak and used her wings to spin in the air to turn on her attacker. But when Shar’s wings started to buzz she heard another buzz of wings join her. ~What?!~ She thought, getting her tonfas spun up and around as the cloaked stranger pressed forward, forcing the crowd to part. As this attacker got close to Sharifa she was able to catch a glimpse under his hook for a moment and her eyes widened. ”Dala, run!” She yelled.

What Sharifa did not realize was that she was being backed up on purpose. As the crowed parted as Sharifa was forced on the defensive, one of those in the crowd turned, wearing the same kind of hooded outfit the attacker was. A hand appeared from the sleeve of the one in the crowd behind Shar and when got close that hand struck forward. Sharifa screamed in pain as something was jabbed into her side as she could feel her blood flowing, no, it was being sucked out. The attacker with the sword went to press his advantage while the one behind her went to wrap a restraint around her throat to keep her controlled.

Desperate, Sharifa screamed again as static ran up and down her body for a split second. The attacker with the sword saw it and backed off just in time, but the one behind Sharifa was not so lucky. Lightning crackled around the wasp and from her and the area was lit up in a flash as it found its way from Shar to the one who had a hold of her. He spasmed for the duration of the lightning strike before falling back as smoke trickled off of him, though he wasn’t dead, only stunned. Sharifa gasped for breath as the weird round wound on her side oozed blood. ”Fucking parasites!” She screamed as she faced the one with the sword and looked around for a moment. ~Oh by the gods, no.~ There were actually four attackers as they stepped out of the crowed all carrying swords.

All of them were very lanky and tall, over six feet, with pale skin wearing lose fitting clothing with hoods. Three of them had red eyes and the other had white eyes, all of them had distinct insect wings not unlike Shar’s, though hers were more elegant. One of them opened his mouth and a long tube like structure rolled out with a nasty pointed tip, while another opened his free hand and the same kind of thing rolled out. ~Shit shit shit.~ Sharifa thought as she moved away from the one she had knocked down to get back to something solid that wouldn’t stab her or try and drink her blood.

”Fucking lingala, parasites, all of you! Your kind needs to be wiped out, disgusting blood sucking mosquitos!” Sharifa screamed but none of them reacted, instead they all started to close in on wasp, ignoring the crowd, they had a target in mind it seemed. Sharifa was buzzing with rage, the guards wouldn’t take long to get here, but against all four she had problems lasting too long. ”Come on then, you bastards, if you wanna fight me, let’s go!” She challenged as more lightning crackled along her body.

Sanaki had gathered her resolve to buy a few pieces of jewelry for her sisters in battle when the sounds of a fight came from behind. The crackle and flash of lightning sent charred smoke into the air as screams of pain disturbed the peaceful murmurs of the market. She saw an insectoid being injured and slowly being surrounded by others similar in form yet different. Their abnormally long limbs, pale skin, and horrific features made her stomach turn and fear run cold in her veins. What in the name of the ancestors were they?! The wasp-like one was in desperate need of help and to that the war priestess drew her glaive without hesitation. "Supreme Lord of Judgment, I call upon your spirit–grant me the strength to cut down thine enemies!" With the attention of the mosquitoes on Sharifa, Sanaki rushed in to attack one with frightening speed. Her strike was parried, but that left them open to a blast of scorching fire that came from her other hand. "The wrath of the Rakshasa is upon you!" Came the war cry as she bisected the Lingala before it could extinguish the flames. Blood splattered the jeweled street as she regained her footing and was on the lookout for more.

She kicked away the weapons of the dead insect to prevent its allies from using them, and uttered a chant as her skin began to harden. Blood-drinking ghouls were not something she had encountered in her time of service, but she was well equipped to defend against them. She turned her attention to the remaining three attackers, selecting one with a hideous thing sprouting from his palm. Performing a rapid series of hand symbols, she summoned a pair of spectral cats riding flaming wheels. Sanaki directed them at her target with a shout: "Kasha, take their souls away!" With infernal cries, the spirit beasts ran the Lingala down, giving the priestess an opportunity for attack. She still kept her distance with her glaive to stay out of the reach of that thing on the insect's hand. From what she heard from the wasp woman, their most dangerous trait was their ability to drain vitality from others. She had to put them down before they chose to take one of the bystanders as a hostage or a means to restore their strength.

"I've been fine. I've been working on a study and training trip. Sularia is one of the best places to learn about overcoming environmental difficulties." Dala explained, "And I've been training my resistance to the heat. What about you?" 

Sharifa paused the conversation and asked what was going on. Dala noticed the muttering and minor commotion and her hand reflexively went to her daggers, even though it was only a small commotion. Two large butterfly people walked gracefully towards them but Dala didn't let her guard down. She didn't know much about the Sidama tribe, other than the name and how to identify them. Sharifa greeted them in a friendly tone but tensed when they approached. Holding in her confusion and keeping a calm face, the girl quietly listened to the conversation. One of the butterfly people looked at her and commanded her to move. The teenager stood by her friend, with a bored face while a fury boiled beneath. She didn't know what mtoto meant but the tone of voice was degrading, telling her exactly what it meant. 

Dala didn't know what rafiki meant but it was close to marafiki, the word Sharifa had spoken earlier. Ma must have been in front of the word to either emphasis rafiki or to make it plural. The girl's linguistic lessons were embedded in her head and made figuring out new languages a little easier than before. But the words from the other butterfly, the one who hadn't act so rudely, was beyond her knowledge. The only words she was able to catch were rafiki and marafiki, both of which she didn't know the meanings of. While the two were focused with the butterflies, a hooded figure had drawn closer hidden by the crowd. 

Clang! A sword attempted to slam down on Sharifa and was only stopped by her tonfa. Dala dashed into the crowd, covering herself with a cloak and pretending to run away. She was small, fast, and an expert in blending in. She spotted her friend being backed into a corner by four attackers. Then she spotted two lingering in the crowd, trying to wait as back up in case the four failed. Just as she was about to attack the people attacking Sharifa, the pink-haired lady from earlier struck one of the attackers down. Seeing that the lady was handling it, she decided to focus on the ones still hiding in the crowd.

Pretending to be one of the crowd, she snuck up behind one of the stand by attackers and stabbed it in the head with one of her daggers. The creature screeched with pain as Dala used her other dagger to cut off its antennas. She didn't know what the antennas did but she hoped it would cause confusion for the enemy. The mosquito looking insectoid spun around and began swing its sword around, confused and in serious pain. Dala unsheathed her sword and sliced at the creature's neck, its head was thrown off and rolled onto the ground. It still was moving, despite lacking a head.

The crowd started shouting and running away from the fighting. Though many rosenites watched with interest from afar, most were starting to move away. Dala's cover was gone so she quickly ran to Sharifa's side with her sword prepared. A pair of spectral cats riding flaming wheels appeared and attacked the remaining attackers. The teenager deeply wished her light magic abilities was as useful as the lady's magic. One of the attackers approached, trying to strike Dala down with the sword. The teenager dodged the attack and kept moving out of the way. Dala couldn't fight a right spot to hit and just focused on staying on the defensive. The insectoid's anger rose as Dala avoided each strike it threw at her. 

"Is that the best you can do?" She mocked, "My blind grandmother could fight better than you!"

The insectoid began attacking faster and faster but they had become messy and easy to predict. Dala dropped to the ground and used her daggers to attack the creature's legs, making the insectoid fall backwards in surprise. Pressing her advantage, the girl used her sword and stabbed the creature's head, deciding that was a good place to stab. She continued stabbing it until it stopped moving. By the end of it, the insectoid looked more like a pin cushion. 

She was not alone in the fight then after all! Some random woman in the crowd had joined in the fight and had taken down a lingala while it had been distracted looking at Sharifa. One down at least, but three left. However, Dala was joining the fight, using her surprise from the crowd to bring down another attacker before it could react to the threat. But now she was involved in all of this as she stood with Sharifa. ”I told you to run!” Sharifa buzzed in anger, now she had to worry about Dala, not something she wanted!

~Stubborn teenaged humans!~ Sharifa thought as Dala started to attack another lingala so that left the one in front of Sharifa and the one on the ground stunned from her lightning attack. The two insects stared each other down until she saw the lingala’s eyes glance towards the butterflies for a moment. ”Don’t try it.” Shar warned as both of them tensed up ready to spring into action. When both of them reacted their movements were a blur, like their tiny cousins both wasp and mosquito were flying through the air in the short space between where they had started and the butterfly couple.

Sharifa got in the right position and used her magic again to send a concussive blast of air at the lingala. She caught it right in the wings which threw it off balance in the air, even if they were only a few feet off the ground. The impact kicked its legs out before it could them on the ground and it went sailing into a stone wall as the crowd got out of the way. Sharifa was right on it instantly bringing her tonfas up to knock away its sword and using her stingers to stab at it. It wasn’t able to fend off all four arms and eventually Sharifa managed to get a good strike in on its chest before crushing its skull with her tonfas, she even cracked of one them.

With that one dead Sharifa turned back to the one she had stunned who was just starting to recover. ”Stand down!” Shar screamed as static ran up in her body again before she threw a hand forward and lightning struck the lingala again knocking it down once more. As she walked past a stall Shar grabbed some rope and tied the lingala up before he could recover again. She looked behind her at the sidama and glared. ”Get over here, and tell me what the hell, is going on!” She screamed again and the butterfly couple stepped back over to her again and then she looked to Dala. ”I told you to leave and you didn’t, now they know your face, you better hope this is the last one.” She looked to the stranger to wherever she was. ”Thank you, stranger, but, same as for her, hope that these were the only ones and none got away with details on what you look like.” She warned.

Looking back to the sidama again and the lingala who was starting to come around. ”So, explain, now.”

[OOC: Catch up and then they will explain what’s going on :D]

The rest were swiftly dispatched, with one of the mosquito-creatures left alive for interrogation. Apparently something had happened between the wasp woman and the butterflies, something that demanded an explanation. Cleaning her glaive, Sanaki wondered why the woman was so tense. "I'll be alright." She said in reply. Being ambushed and facing assassins were nothing new compared to the dangers of Kujishoku. As long as she protected herself from being drained of her vitality, then she saw nothing to worry about. Things were finally settling down as the people went about their business like before, with the local guards taking note of what had happened. Still concerned over how sudden things had taken for a turn, the war priestess chose to remain nearby. She watched the conversation between the insect-like people, staying close in case the wasp woman needed help. 

As she listened in, curiosity took hold. Carefully she approached the fallen corpses of the ones who had attacked, unsure of how durable they were. Witchcraft that could revive one shortly after death was a rare case, but she learned to always expect it. Sanaki observed that these creatures had protrusions on different parts of their body which was used to drain blood and twice the number of limbs as an ordinary person. Their wings looked like that of mayflies, veined like stained glass yet thick enough to allow them to fly. The rest of their features ranged between uncanny to monstrous, some bearing stronger resemblance to the insects they took after. Perhaps she should send word back to her sisters in battle to keep an eye out for these. Should they choose to target her, they likely wouldn't stop at her alone. 

Clasping her hands, she uttered a chant over the dead bodies. Though their intentions were malicious, she prayed that they would not repeat the same actions in their next life. The world would mete out its judgment accordingly to one's choices, such was the way of the disciples of Yama. "…May the Lord of Supreme Judgment show you mercy." Sanaki murmured as she sprinkled the ashes of incense on the fallen Lingala. Rites for the dead must be performed regardless if they were friend or foe.

Dala could hear Sharifa's frustration at the fact that she returned but the teenager didn't particularly care. From her perspective, Sharifa was her friend. The teenager didn't know these attackers or what was going on but she DID know one very important thing. If somebody tried to hurt her friends, they should consider themselves dead. Besides, they weren't the first assassins who went after her and they certainly wouldn't be the last.

Once Dala saw the mosquito like creatures fall on the ground, she poked them for a bit to make certain that they were dead. Once that was done, the teenager began going through the bodies to see if there was anything to take. Her survival instincts always triumphed in the end and some habits would never die. She quickly finished up and then stood by Sharifa's side, keeping her eyes out for any other attackers. 

"Oh yeah!" Dala exclaimed realizing she had forgotten to thank the stranger, "Thank you pink lady!" 

It wasn't meant to be rude since Dala never heard the woman's name but the girl's talents with manners was sorely lacking.