Rive was a small town, on the outskirts of the main kingdom, built as nothing more than a waypoint for travellers. That was the intent. It grew over the years into a hub of activity, purporting large businesses all its own, including a thriving merchants hall. Any travelling merchant would go there to try and make a name for themselves, but that's a mistake. There would never be a time where backstabbing wasn't prevalent. One foot in there, one hint that you sold something another merchant didn't have, and you were a target for life. Or until you killed them.
Tosaki had made that mistake at other towns and cities. She leaned against a tree, stretching after her cursory investigations of the town, going over a mental list of her items, her prices and her marketing plan. All in order. She tugged at her half-length shirt, stretched around her prodigious bust, and undid her buttons. A slew of cleavage spilled into the open.
"Right," she took a deep breath and flung her wares onto her back, then headed into the town. Noise greeted her, generated by sweaty people shouting to one another, or the horses trotting by on long-beaten roads. Pickpockets danced between them all, hands flashing and previous steals shimmering on their bodies. Most were young, no older than twelve. Their skinny arms and fingers made them ideal for this job.
Tosaki allowed herself a slight grin as she approached the thicket of stolen goods. They spotted her soon enough, and the goods she toted on her back, also the long, pointed ears that broke past her crimson hair. One noticed the smile on her lips, but wrote it off, probably as nothing more than a naïve target.
They swarmed her, eager to see if she had any good items for their grabby hands. Tosaki resumed her usual expression of indifference as she tracked them all. Her eyes darted between legs and people, ears raised and alert for their feet and breath, while she kept weaving through the traffic. One made a sly grab at her waist, where an ornate dagger swayed. Another went for the bundle on her back, and a third waited on the side, watching. Tosaki made a simple step and evaded both, then slipped from view of the third. Others went for her and earned scrapes and bruises for their efforts.
An older girl, fourteen she assumed, stepped in her way. Tosaki only then noticed the lack of people in the immediate area. Several stalls and houses formed alleyways, perfect spots for muggers. She didn't stop. What was there to fear from a frail girl?
When she took one step, the space was filled with others girls. Some were adults, others still children, but all shared the brown rags made from potato sacks. Unlike the pickpockets, these were muggers, the scrappy ones who scratched and bit their way to victory, even if they got messed up in the process. And they would.
Tosaki shifted her weight from foot to foot, testing the dirt. It was firm from the foot traffic and calm weather for the last few days. The sun was to her back and forced the muggers to squint in her direction. Most had their eyes on her weapons. The older girls were cautious, wondering if she could use the daggers to either side of her broad hips. For once, they didn't underestimate her. So many people believed she was inept, given her physique.
"Drop the shit and no one gets hurt," the leader girl said. She had bright, blue eyes and dark hair, frazzled from mistreatment.
Tosaki exhaled and checked her earrings. The runes were in effect, as they would be for another few years so long as she didn't have another lapse. A group of stray girls wouldn't trigger one. She asserted her neutral mask, refusing to show any concern over the situation, and stepped forward.
They struck at that moment. Instinct, refined after years of going after stronger targets, demanded that they attack instead of retreat. Tosaki stepped past them all, swaying to their swipes or hopping over their legs. One had good reflexes and changed their angle as she moved. One moment, her fingers brushed the sack on Tosaki's back, and the next she was flat on the ground. Another girl went for Tosaki, who grabbed her arm and bent it back until she heard a visceral pop. The girl went down clutching her dislocated shoulder.
Others followed. Tosaki grabbed two outstretched hands and spun, flinging the pair away, at the same time she whispered a short paralysis spell. Magic whipped through the air, invisible to all without power themselves, and struck those on the floor. That caught everyone's attention and cowed their efforts.
"You're a Mage." The leader whispered.
"No," Tosaki said and walked to her, "Just a travelling merchant. Care to tell me the best corner to set up?" She summoned an inkling of power to her fingers, where electricity crackled, then was snuffed out like flame, leaving faint tendrils of smoke to rise and dissipate. The message received, her new informant gave clear directions. Tosaki thanked her and left, daggers still unsheathed at her sides. Her would-be muggers dissipated to spread word of the newcomer.
Once in the clear, a green shape hopped down from a rooftop to scurry beside Tosaki. This was Hayden, a goblin, and Tosaki's personal stalker. Or she would be if her activities weren't obvious to the elf. Long ears weren't a simple aesthetic, but a useful addition, capable of picking up sounds too faint for most humans. So it didn't surprise Hayden when Tosaki spoke.
"What's your plan this time?" She asked, not turning to look.
Hayden sighed and hurried to the front, stout body jiggling along, one hand on her front and back, supporting her fecund form, "Nothing much this time. Just gonna get you an audience soon."
"I'm not a bard."
"No, but you could be huge in this world," Hayden said and threw her hands up, "I'm talking Nobles, maybe Queens and shit. No more travelling. Seriously, if I have to fuck another bandit to get some, I'm gonna go crazy. Ever seen a goblin go crazy? Things get weird."
"I like travelling," Tosaki said and settled in a clear street. Few people were about, but she trusted the muggers. There was no better encouragement for truth than fear.
"Why?" Hayden pouted and sat with her, stomach resting over her crossed legs, "Got any idea how hard being pregnant on the road is?"
"No, because I can control myself," Tosaki said. Hayden opened her mouth, then closed it as Tosaki added, "Most of the time." She busied herself with setting up her goods, concealing the slight frown that creased her face. Magic was volatile under the most restrained masters, those who knew their own power and knew how to channel it, but for someone with a still untapped depth of power, whose every spell required careful consideration, focus and a set of runes to keep from becoming something unnatural, it was a monster waiting to break out. As Tosaki had learned several times when she'd morphed into various creatures.
She rolled the set of thin bands across her fingers. With her earrings, she had almost a dozen rune-inscribed rings of gold or silver on her body. For reasons beyond any scholar, gold and silver were best suited to be imbued with magic. Tosaki suspected it was merchants who perpetuated the idea and just paid off any Mage who knew otherwise.
These runes channelled her magic, siphoning the more dangerous effects. After a while they would break like an overstuffed balloon, at which point she'd replace them with her spares, kept in a small pouch strapped to her waist. The pouch itself was imbued with magic to ward off pickpockets. It was for those reasons that Tosaki kept a set of daggers on her, and a short sword in her bundle should the situation demand it.
"Ever thought of letting loose?" Hayden later asked. They'd been sat there for an hour. So far, Tosaki had sold a pot, a couple of bags of fruit, and some assorted knickknacks she'd stolen from those who did her wrong. The sun was setting, drowning the sky in a smouldering lake that cast all below in its fiery radiance. She'd stay a little longer, then head to an inn.
"No," Tosaki lied. Of course she had. Sparks of desire flitted in amongst the patient boredom of being a freelance merchant. Her fate with Hayden had come about from a lapse in control. It might not have been so bad, if her libido and magic weren't intertwined.
Elves were notorious for their sexual desires. Humans often wandered into an elven village and are left dumbfounded at the lack of repression found there. Nudity was as common as clothes, bare breasts or asses, dicks or pussies, none of it was deemed illicit. Only the weather changed their habits. Tosaki was the worst of them all.
But after decades of work, she was confident in her self-control. That didn't mean she was impervious to her body's desires. Which Hayden was eager to exploit on a regular basis. She was a stalker, but fantastic in bed. A problem for someone like Tosaki.
"Aw, come on," Hayden said and cuddled closer to her, milk-heavy breasts squishing into her arm, "I can take anything you dish out. Anything."
She wasn't lying. Their first time together had seen Tosaki lose any semblance of herself, with only faint recollections to fill in the blanked out evening, and yet Hayden was more than happy with the night. Hence why she followed Tosaki everywhere, offering temptation at all hours. Unless Tosaki evaded her. But there was no point in doing so. Hayden was pleasant enough company. Better than a certain noble Tosaki avoided like a hurtling meteor.
Tosaki's ears drooped as she sighed and packed up. A familiar energy hummed in her body, it was a mixture of magic and lust, each fuelling the other. Her rings pulsed and glowed under the dwindling sunlight. They took a pink-red hue as her imagination burgeoned. Rive, like all flourishing towns, had gained a nightlife. The sun set on a poor day and let the moon awaken its people; the prostitutes, the drinkers, and the voracious lovers. She avoided those people and headed to a nearby bar.
Surprisingly, it was mostly vacant of other merchants. Men she assumed were guards, given their crimson armour, occupied most of the space. Few people drank alone, either flaunting money or exerting pressure to keep a barmaid with them. Tosaki placed a simple spell on her goods, sealing them to all but her, and took a place at the bar itself to venture through the various patrons.
Most were men. Several were already drunk. She passed them over, looking to the lone woman in the room, who was secluded in a corner, sipping at a mug. She was good-looking for a human. Full lips and dark eyes framed her sleek, hooked nose, while her dress stretched around her bosom. Tosaki had no doubts the rest was just as voluptuous.
