Ah, dangit...my charrie is nothing like me at all. Guess I didn't see that bit. Should I change her up? (Am I even in this at all?)

Koda says pieb. Ooh, good idea, Koda! We should have a pie-baking contest!

A quick note to everyone: everyone who joined Curio and onward are automatically tertiaries. Sorry.

Also, no more people.

And now, the NEW PART:

Chapter 1, Part 3:

Night fell at the Lone Hound Tavern. The trickle of curved, enticing music pulled the lowlifes in from the streets, shouting curses and drinking to their heart’s content.

          In better taverns, Hlynn knew that the flow of drink into the hooligan’s mouths would be stoppered eventually so they would not become drunk and start fights. In this tavern, however, it seemed that the men were deliberately made highly drunk and distracted.

          Hlynn had seen many a watch and coin pulled from a man’s pocket as he lay slumped on the counter, deliriously asking for another drink.

          Hlynn realized the strategy of the bar; the men working the bar were of Clan Terron, a Clan known for their physical strength and ability to create earthquakes and shift rock. This would help them quell aggressive customers.

          The women serving the beer were of Clan Floron, which tended to produce the most attractive women. Clan Florons, like Clan Psyons, had dainty fingers. Clan Floron’s fingers were made to caress the flowers their native ability let them grow, and the tips had the same texture as flower petals; Clan Psyon’s fingers had developed rougher on the tips, the texture of the spine of an old book.

          But the reason Clan Florons made excellent barmaids was not that their fingers were merely picturesque; they were the perfect size for picking pockets.

          It was a fascinating symbiosis, much like the real symbiosis of earth and plants.

          Hlynn quietly sipped her refilled glass of water, avoiding eye contact with anyone. The air was pungent, thick with sweat and beer.

          Abruptly, the scent of beer was stronger. Hlynn looked up to see an extremely drunk man of Clan Terron standing over her, sneer of his alcohol breath.

          “Sir?” Hlynn asked, pulling away.

          In a flash, the man had grabbed Hlynn’s cheek. Hlynn gasped, and some in the bar turned to her.

          “Mm. Pretty. Clan Floron? Rivvon? Runaway Psyon?”

          Hlynn lied. “R-Rivvon. And my name is…” the name she had given Niekii earlier when Niekii had snubbed her… what was it? “Tassha.”

          “Not ugly, not ugly. So, girl, how would you like a servant’s job?”

          Hlynn’s blood ran cold. Even the richest Clan Terron was poorer than the poorest Clan Psyon or Pyron; as a servant to a Clan Terron, she would likely have no pay, hardly any food, and no possessions.

          “N-no, sir,” Hlynn stuttered out.

          The man scowled. Hlynn shivered.

          “What if I make you be my slave, then?” he hissed.

          “You have no right,” Hlynn said.

          The man guffawed. “You talk like you come from Clan Psyon. But naw, you’d be in your pretty lil’ libraries. So lemme say it again: tell me your price or I’ll just make you come with me.” “

          Hlynn was trapped like a fish in a net. She opened her mouth and shut it, praying for words, and excuse, but the man was drunk and angry… she could not reason with him…

          “She’s not for sale!”

          Hlynn gawked and looked behind the man to see Niekii, fists on her hips. The man whirled angrily.

          “Barmaid? What-shut up! I-“

          “She’s right,” Hlynn said, standing, emboldened by Niekii.

          The man smirked. “Oh? And what’s a girl like you going-“

          In a flash, Niekii raised her hand, and flowers exploded from the pile of seeds in it and at the man. The man screamed and fell back, and a burst of telekinesis slammed him into the bar.

          The man was still, unconscious. The bartenders and barmaids gaped at Hlynn, who all-too-late realized that her sleeves had fallen back and her Psyon and Rivvon marks were showing.

          Niekii grabbed Hlynn’s hand and ran. 

TOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoPPPPPPPP!!!!!!! This is so cool!!!!!!