<div class="floatright">(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/db/e9/cf/dbe9cf5fe0e93ceb0b2c4707e6679664--character-portraits-character-ideas.jpg)</div><br/>Had the door to the pub felt this heavy the first time she had pushed it open? Sophia couldn't really remember as she forced the thick wooden panels forward with a low grunt, feeling the warmed air that stunk of stale ale wash over her sweaty face. The streets were dark as the sun had already dipped below the line of trees, shadows reaching their long fingers to grasp the town in twilight and the pair of girls stood in utter shellshock as the light from the tavern illuminated their failure for all to see.<br/><br/>Sophia squinted, her sharp blue eyes watering as the firelight assaulted them. She stood not quite a head taller than the trembling redhead at her side as they took a second to let their vision adjust. Her signature Evenember hair was in tatters, the elaborate braid that Les had put there that morning was now pulled apart and frazzled. She cast her eyes over to the girl and noticed there were a few stray twigs sticking out from her auburn locks and she quickly plucked them. If she'd pulled a hair the green eyes didn't show it as they gazed unblinkingly ahead, more through the tavern than actually seeing anyone or anything in it.<br/><br/>"You girls looked like you've been dragged behind some carts all afternoon."<br/><br/>Rumtung laughed from the other side of the counter, giving the girl's thick and curvy frames a once over with his watery, piggy eyes.<br/><br/>What a joke they must have looked like now. They had traded their dresses for pants and shirts, not to mention a corset that barely fit Sophie's broad frame. She had felt so confident strapping the short sword to her hip as Les had picked out her garments and inspected staves to see if anything would be a better fit than the one father had given her. Killing rats was supposed to have been easy, they thought. They were just supposed to be rats...<br/><br/>"So I take it you lass's don't have my tails, then?"<br/><br/>The innkeeper smiled a wide, mostly toothless grin, showing off the few blackened pegs he did have left in his face for chewing. The breath from his laughter reminded her of the dank caves the pair had just fled.<br/><br/>She looked at him in what she hoped would be a stern way but all it managed to do was make him laugh harder and point them to an empty table in the corner of the tavern.<br/><br/>"Your usual spot,<em> ladies</em>?" He embellished the last word with an overly dramatic bow and sway of his hand.<br/><br/>They picked their way through the throngs of guests, all of whom were looking then over. The chortling was difficult for the proud Evenember girl to ignore, but she had to admit, they had every reason to be amused. Their clothing was torn and their skin was marked with a series of cuts and grazes, some of which, she noticed, were still bleeding. The sword at her side had felt so sharp in the shop but turned out to be duller than her grandfather's small talk over dinner. No doubt a charm of some sort. No wonder it had been such a good deal.<br/><br/>She fell heavily onto the uncomfortable, unyielding chair, wincing in pain as the wood groaned under her weight.<br/><br/>"Dogs..." she muttered more to herself than to her companion. "They were the size of fucking dogs..."<br/><br/>She adjusted her tattered blue and black tunic under the cheap leather bodice as she fished the coin purse from her plentiful cleavage.<br/><br/>"I didn't know they could get that large..." It was a fact that she was still struggling to accept. Clearly, no one had warned her of this and she felt betrayed by all her fancy schooling as if it should have somehow prepared her for this.<br/><br/>She pried the purse open and shook the meager contents around, counting the few copper and silver inside that was the last of their money.