Suddenly, the inn door flew open. It was Lady Grizelda. Upon seeing her, she stormed over. "You again? Are you going to harass my guild members some more?"
Shallista shook her head. "I'm waiting to see a young man."
Lady Grizelda face twisted in disgust. "Is there no limit to your ability to be a whore?"
Shallista sat up. "Is sexy armor really that big of a problem? You don't have to wear it, you know."
"I don't care if you want to look like a whore," Lady Grizelda answered. "I just don't like the image you and your kind put out for up and coming female warriors. I'm willing to bet you don't even feel ashamed, but you should."
Shallista looked her over. "You're kind of cute. I'd be willing to let you come to my headquarters and try some sexy armor yourself. Don't knock it until you try it."
Lady Grizelda's face got red. "As if. I could never walk around looking like you."
Shallista stood. "You're blushing. Could it be that you secretly want to do it?"
Lady Grizelda turned away. "Whore!" Then she stormed away and back into the inn.
Shallista plopped down on the bench. She would sit there as long as it took. With every guild member strategically stationed throughout the city, it was only a matter of time before the person who vandalized the entertainment district was found. He would pay.
*
Penelope was in the entertainment district hiding in a building with Nicolotte. She barely knew anything about her since she joined. It wasn't because of a lack of interest, though. Between her duties as a Sexy Warrior, her job as a town watchman, her friendship with Cordelia and Wendy, secretly hanging out with Lady Victoria, and a blossoming relationship with Epsley, there simply wasn't enough time. No time like the present. But what to talk about.
"So...your name is Penelope," Nicolotte said, beating her to an icebreaker. "Do you like it?"
"Do I like my name?" Penelope asked. "It's fine. I guess I never really thought about it. Why do you ask?"
Nicolotte shook her head. "No reason. Just making conversation." It was silent for a moment. "You know...I'm not into women, but you have a nice butt."
"Huh...what?" She didn't know how to respond. "Ummm...you, too?"
It was silent for another moment. Then Nicolotte asked, "So how much do you know about Akiko?"
"Not that much," Penelope answered. "She's never around. Out gathering intel, I guess."
Suddenly, she heard laughter and a window breaking. "Huh?" She drew her sword and dashed out of the building. She saw a young man about 15 feet away, throwing something at a building, smashing another window. "Hey! What are you doing?"
He looked, apparently startled, then started running.
"Hey!" Nicolotte shouted. "Halt, cockroach!"
"Dammit, don't make me run!" Penelope complained.
*
Hilde and Neeka we're wandering around outside the library, looking out for the suspect. It was torture for Hilde. She wanted to read a book badly right now. Oh well, there was no helping it. She was on the clock.
"I wonder if the suspect will come around," Neeka said.
"Maybe he will, maybe he won't," Hilde said. "That's why we're stationed all throughout the town. Eyes everywhere. If we don't see them, someone will. And if he returned to the scene of the crime, it's likely Penelope and Nicolotte will be the first ones to see him."
Suddenly, a young man rushed past. Hilde and Neeka looked at each other. "Was that him?" Neeka asked.
"He seemed to fit the description Shallista gave us," Hilde said.
A moment later, Nicolotte trotted around. "What are you doing? It's the suspect! Give chase!"
*
He ran down an alley and crashed to the ground, trying to catch his breath. He managed to lose all the scantily-clad women chasing him. Why were they wearing those outfits? "What the hell is going on here?"
They were hot, though. If he was sure they wouldn't beat the crap out of him, he might let them catch him. It was too risky, though. For now, he would just have to lay low until he could escape town. "Damn...I should have never stayed this long."
Suddenly, there was an explosion in the sky. "Fireworks?"
"Signal arrow," a female voice said.
About twenty feet away, there stood a woman loading an arrow into a bow aimed right at him. She was another of those scantily clad women chasing him. When did she get there?
"Heavens, how many of you people are there?" he said. He hopped up to his feet, measuring the distance to the end of the alley.
"Don't run. You can't make it. I won't miss."
Was it a bluff? It was an open road out there. Would she really take the chance of missing, potentially hitting a random passerby? To run would be a gamble, but he had to take it. He took off in a mad dash to the end.
As soon as he got there, he ran into a fist and was knocked down. Before he could react, a woman was onto top of him, raining down fists.
"You lousy maggot," she said. "You made my boyfriend cry." A few other women ran over and pulled her off. "Let me go! I want to strangle the life out of him!"
"We need to make sure there's something left when we turn him over to Epsley and the guys," one of the women said. "In other words, no killing the target."
The woman who hit him stopped struggling with her allies and smiled. "Yeah. This justice belongs to them. Heh, heh."
*
It was dark as Shallista stood outside her headquarters. She was afraid to go in and face her guildmates. How could she tell them she fell asleep when she was supposed to be standing watch over the inn? Because of her, the young man probably got away. Would they hate her? How could she call herself a leader if she'd dropped the ball so badly?
There was no use putting it off any longer. Head hanging low, she opened the door and entered. Much to her surprise, she saw several of her guildmates sitting there, asleep in their chairs. All except for one. Penelope was staring daggers at the young man, who was tied up and looking quite battered.
"Oh..." she said.
Penelope looked at her and her face softened. "Hey, milady. We caught the maggot."
Shallista sighed in relief. "I am glad to hear it." But she knew what she had to do. "I'm sorry. I let you down."
Penelope looked confused. "Sorry for what?"
"The young man could have gotten away, all because...I fell asleep," she answered. "How can I call myself a leader after that?"
"You're not breaking up the guild, are you?" Penelope asked.
"I don't intend to...but if you want to leave, I won't stop you."
"You have nothing to feel sorry about," Penelope said. "We caught the young man and will be dragging him to Epsley tomorrow." Penelope got out of her chair, walked over, and put her hand on her shoulder. "Since the day I met you, I've seen you do nothing but work your ass off. I've seen you work on short sleep or even no sleep. I can't blame you for dozing off."
"You don't hate me?" Shallista asked.
Penelope removed her hand from her shoulder and turned. "You're only human. Accept it. You put this guild together for a reason. Learn to trust us more."
That was a relief, but she couldn't let things stand like this. "I'm supposed to be the leader and I literally fell asleep on the job. That's something I can't accept. I will make this up to you one day."
Penelope returned to her seat. "Okay, milady. Get some rest."
*
Penelope arrived at the work site with Wendy, Cordelia, Vilka, Shallista, and the young man, who was being restrained by Shallista. He was doing his darndest to get away, but he wouldn't.
Epsely and the workers noticed them and gathered around. "Hey, ladies," Epsley said, hammer in hand. "Is that the maggot who ruined our hard work?"
"Yep," Penelope said. "I saw him do it with my own eyes."
Shallista released the young man, only to kick him down at the feet of Epsley. "You shouldn't have been doing the things you were doing. Now it's time to pay the price."
Epsley grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and picked him up. It looked as if he was tempted to beat his face in with his hammer, but he chose not to. "You're going to fix everything you destroyed. And if you complain, you're going to find out what happens when you piss off a group of men with hammers."
The young man looked as if he was about to cry.
Penelope shrugged her shoulders. "That's what happens when you're an asshole."
