A skull splitting headache can really only be cured by two things: sleep, or a drink. Since the sun was still much too high for a night’s rest a drink it would be. Sangilak flipped a silver to the barkeep in the Golden Toad and took her ale back to a community table. She sat down heavy and heard a squeak from the other side of the table.
“What’s the big idea?!” a small Shai with red eyes wiped her own drink from her face.
This would not help her headache. “You got a problem?”
The Shai did not like that answer, hopping up on the table and marching down to stare at Sangilak, almost at eye level. “You’re the one causing the problem here. You spilled my drink!”
“So go get another one.” The pale eyes narrowed, looking as if on fire.
“You spilled it, you pay for it.”
Smoke could have burned from her nostrils. “Fine. Then we settle this the old fashioned way.” Sangilak’s head barely moved as the Shai punched her square in the jaw. The surprise of the audacity almost outweighed the new throb in the back of her skull. That voice in her head started screaming insults.
“You don’t want to do this, tiny one.”
Another punch to the other side of her jaw. Now it was just getting irritating.
Sangilak stood up, towering over nearly everyone else in the room, especially the Shai, and glared down. “Alright. Fine. Outside.”
The crowd that had gathered parted as the large woman marched right out the door she’d only just come in. She popped her stiff neck and motioned for the Shai to give it her best shot. Might as well give her a free shot - Sangilak didn’t want to be too hard on her.
Chaos ensued. Brute strength as she was, it doesn’t do much if your opponent is fast enough to avoid most of your grabs, even if the hits she gave did little damage. The two of them exchanged blows and made a mess of the main street through Heidel. Lara screamed and shook her fist when they broke some of her boxes. The blacksmith shut his doors to avoid it spilling over into his shop.
The fight only lasted a few minutes, but both combatants were wiped. Sangilak held the Shai out at arms length while she swatted back weakly. They were both exhausted. “Truce?” the larger woman panted, not willing to concede, but more than happy to give credit where it was due.
For a moment it seemed like the Shai wouldn’t consent but then she stopped swinging and sat down on the street next to Sangilak. “Truce…. Drink? You still owe me one.”
Sangilak laughed. “Why not.” With a groan and a few popping joints she got back to her feet and extended a hand to the Shai. She hopped back up to her feet without any help. “What’s your name?”
The pair shared a drink, forming a loosely termed friendship based on a sense of mutual respect, and a mutual loathing of most other people. At least Sangilak’s headache seemed to have gone away, and the voice in her head was quiet once again.