The girls made their last-minute preparations... rations for a couple days, just in case, checking the level of lamp oil they had on hand, potions, etc. They should be well-enough prepared for a few little dogmen in that shithole of a sewer.

Kobolds. Usually three-to-four foot tall, wiry little canine humanoids that were mostly dumb as rocks, but occasionally the smart ones would set snares and traps in their lairs. And last time she was here, she'd avoided many before her stint dangling upside-down with her head just above the muck. She shuddered at that thought. Bleh. If she never saw another sewer, it would be too soon... but she needed the experience... the fighting ability...

...Not to mention the bounty on those kobolds' heads. They were going for a silver per, and clearing all of them out would net a hefty bonus that would set her up with her own place... she could use the money she brought to get a modest home but she wanted to make a decent living as an adventurer, not relying too much on her name or heritage, until she was ready to head home and claim her rightful throne. Gods willing she'd have a while to enjoy her life before being saddled with all that nonsense.

Anyway, she shook her head to clear away the unwanted thoughts, and looked over at Ari, who was looking at her curiously. "So, you're back, are you? You got a faraway look in your eye for a moment there. Everything okay?"

"Yeah," said Fai, "Let's get on with this. There are kobolds down there waiting for an ass-kicking. Let's give it to them."

"Wait. Who are you and what did you do with Fai?" She grinned broadly.

"Oh fuck off. You know this is your influence, right, Ari? A few days around you and I'm swearing like a sailor."

"Ha, ha... yeah. I'll take the credit. You needed to remove the stick up your butt anyway."

Fai turned to glare at Ari, but then cracked a smile. "Yeah, yeah, so maybe I needed to loosen up... but at least I was smart enough to get the hell out of there before I turned all curmudgeon like my father."

Ari feigned a swoon. "Oh, how the King would be pained to hear his daughter say such things about him!"

Fai reached over and lightly pushed Ari. "Shithead. Quit fucking with me and let's go."

As the two headed downstairs and out the front door, gear in tow, she said, "Honestly, though. A couple days ago, I'd never have thought you could be like this. Just changing your appearance really did set you free, didn't it?"

"You have no idea. Such a fucking weight has been lifted. I felt so... constrained. Now if someone sees me misbehave, who cares? I'm just Fai. Got no one looking over my shoulder, and I'm guessing you're not planning to tattle on me... so screw it."

Ari just grinned, and nodded toward the one unlocked sewer entrance at the edge of the city... They'd locked them all after the kobolds had moved in, leaving just the one open for the engineers hearty enough to wade through to do maintenance.

They arrived, and a hand painted sign greeted them. "KOBOLDS. ENTER AT OWN RISK." Ari and Fai looked at one another and shrugged, pulling open the grate, and heading down, closing it above them. The guard they'd passed at the end of the alley just shook his head and sighed.

The darkness of the sewer took a moment for Fai's nightvision to adjust to, but once it did, she could see almost as well as she could outside... Elves had pretty good night vision... and it really helped in situations like this. Unfortunately Ari had no such abiltiy, so they'd gotten her some light-enhancing specs to wear. They had a band that went around the back of her head to hold them in place in combat. She'd looked a bit nerdy in them, and Fai had poked a bit of good natured fun at her when she put them on. But they had things to do, so they headed into the dank sewer, trying to stick to the edges, but occasionally having to step into the muck to sidestep traps, Fai making faces every time she had to do so.

After a while, they heard scraping and rough voices up a corridor, and started to see some light spilling down the way as they followed the curve. They sidled up along the inner curve, and took a look. Theyd apparently found one of the open areas the kobolds had claimed... it was a larger room, possibly leading to some kind of pit but the floor had been covered up with boards, over all the waterway areas in a sort of makeshift wooden floor.

They readied their own snare.... they laid out a net, rigging a snare using the remnants of their own in the corridor that they had pulled apart getting here, only larger. Then Fai cast an invisibility spell on the net, causing it to fade out of view... She went to the corridor's end where she had a good view of the net area, and readied her bow at the corner, hiding just around it. Ari double-checked the lines, then pulled her knives, and whistled loudly, calling their attention.

Not being too bright, the kobolds came, as they'd figured they would, as a group., and once they walked to the trigger end of the net and saw the girls, it was too late, Fai loosed several arrows, and Ari leapt from the shadowed part of the curve, and together they made short work of the group. a dozen went down there, with a few stragglers following. None escaped, though the one that tried got a thrown knife in the back by Ari and went down, flailing to try to reach the hilt that bloomed from his spine like some strange metal flower. The two threw any that weren't already in the net on it, dragged them to the center of the room where they'd built a firepit, and after taking their trophies to prove their kills (both fangs from each to get paid for the kill) they burned the bodies, the smoke curling up through a hole that must've led to a permanent grating somewhere in the city outskirts. Better the smoke than to leave the bodies behind, though. It was nasty work, and bloody, but after a few times of Fai vomiting, they got through it. It was far from pleasant, but Fai and Ari both knew Fai needed to experience all of this if she was to have a future as an adventurer, and possibly the eventual leader of men in battle as their ruler. There'd be worse to come too... if she couldn't handle this, she didn't need to be out here at all.

So she got to help with chopping the bodies up, and feeding them to the fire. Ari also made her eat, even if she threw it up a time or two... and eventually, the bodies were just a pile of ash in a corner of the room. No one ever bothers to think of how you dispose of the leftovers of battle. The stories of THAT aren't the ones sung by bards or told around the fire. The girls took turns once stomachs settled, and the smell cleared, trying to sleep and keeping watch.

Ari looked back at Fai as she sat first watch, and saw she was tossing and turning. She was sure that grim duty would haunt her for a while, but she was tougher than she looked. Guess her parents were right to let her go and find herself... toughen up before she would have to take responsibility for an entire kingdom. She stretched out, and scrawled out a rough map of the areas they'd been through, when a splashing sound came up the corridor, along with the clang and shing noises of a fight with blades... she drew her own blade, doused the fire and nudged Fai. "Huh?" she mumbled, and Ari shushed her with a finger to her lips, and cupped her ear. Fai hushed and listened, hearing the fight and movement heading their way, she got up quickly and pulled her bow forth, peering down the corridor, and nocking an arrow.

"Have at ye, ya fuckin' curs!" came a familiar voice. The engineer! As he came into view down the corridor, they could see what was putting up such a fight.

A high kobold. The smart ones. Ari and Fai both loosed on it as it came into view, Ari's knife burying itself deep into the thing's throat, a spray of blood gushing forth as it yelped in surprise, just in time for an arrow to find it's mouth. Fai had been aiming for it's eye but it moved after the knife found it's way to it, and her arrow flew into and pierced the roof of his mouth as his head went back to roar in pain. The dwarf jumped back, startled by the spray of blood in his face, and wiped his eyes. Just then, Fai loosed another arrow, this one finding it's mark in the large kobold's chest, where the heart should be. It howled and fell backward.

"What in the goddess' name are you two doin' down in this shithole?"

Ari grinned, and as Fai said, "Training," Ari said, "Saving your butt,"

Uthern laughed heartily, and said, "Well, thank you, lassies. You've gotten pretty good with that bow there, miss... what should I call you? You look different than when I last found you, enough so I'm guessin' yer not wantin' any attention here."

"Call me Fai. And thanks again for the save. I'm sure I looked quite a bit worse for wear, covered in shit as I was. I appreciate your help, so I'm glad we could help you this time."

"So, Ari brought ye down here to learn to fight, did she? Any reason ye couldn't have just taken this to a nice clearing and shown her how tae duke it out proper without dealin' with all this shite?"

Ari replied, "Her idea. She wanted to clear out the kobolds and get the bounty. I figured it's good for the town, good for our finances, and good for her to see all that's involved. And I think she gets the picture after last night's little dust-up."

"I uh... threw up a few times. It wasn't pretty."

Uthern looked sidelong at Ari, "You made her clean up after the battle, didn't you? Oh, lass... that's a harsh start for a first adventure. This place is pretty well caked with blood so ye must've done quite a number on a good-sized group here... that's a hard mess for seasoned adventurers to want to cope with, an' ye handled it better than most.... you're still here. I know men who have fought for decades that would've just left the bodies and called the guard to finish up the mess. You're doing well, your maj-" Fai shot him a wary look, "...er, Fai."

"That she did," said Ari, praising, Fai. "Making her help me dispose of the carcasses was my idea. She wanted to be tougher and it doesn't get tougher than that kind of dirty work, so figured she could use experiencing it at least once."

"Gee, thanks for the life lesson, mom." Fai rolled her eyes, "It's one I won't soon forget... me or my stomach."

"Hey take that back! I am not that much older than you, you brat!"

Fai giggled, and ducked behind Uthern, who chuckled. "You're both actin' like little kiddies right now, if ye ask me. Now let's settle down and relax by the fire. These old bones could use it, and a bite to eat. That big bastard caught me in the middle of setting up a new connection to one of the cisterns down here. So I've been already working hours and then got to get this lovely new crimson paint job." He gestured to the blood coating his once-sparkling and shining steel-and-leather armor.

They all agreed that they could use a bit more rest before hunting down the rest of the band of kobolds, and Uthern joined the party officially for this gig, as the damn mutts kept getting in the way of his work. Least he could do is help clear 'em out.

They laughed, chatted, ate some stew made from ingredients they all contributed, and then took turns getting a bit of shuteye, preparing for day two of the sewer expedition.