It happened in an instant. One second, she was as innocent bystander simply doing her duty by teaching some ruffians a tough lesson, and the next she was an accomplice to a murder spree. It wasn't unjustified, because she probably would have gotten killed without their interference, but [i]still[/i]—holy crap on a stick. This was not being low-key at all. An'zu made a face, lips jutting out in a pout. She watched as the blonde mercenary cut down one ruffian after another, his quick movements easily outmatching her assailants' clunky gait. Blondie weaved between his foes effortlessly; even when he was focused on lecturing the other less nimble merc, he was able to run circles against the ruffians. 

[b]"Is this what 'doing things the old-fashioned way' means?"[/b] she asked, half in earnest and half in incredulity. An'zu looked at the dead bodies littering the ground, their blood staining the concrete. It was a mess. [b]"Because I totally meant to just maim them, y'know? Let them lose a couple of limbs so they couldn't hurt anyone ever again."[/b]

The darker haired mercenary did his part as well. An'zu noted the frantic way in which he'd attacked the ruffian, stabbing repeatedly even after he'd already taken care of him. He collapsed on the ground afterward, seemingly on the verge of tears. Oh, gods. She made a man cry. 

A tall, rather imposing woman appeared when everything was over, and An'zu froze for a moment. Oh, no. It was the guards. They were going to bring the lot of them for questioning, and one of them might recognize her, because if she knew her mother, she would have sent word everywhere about her disappearance as soon as it happened. Her mom was frighteningly relentless about these things. She'd be forced to return home and she hasn't even seen Regna Ferox! Thinking quickly, An'zu nonchalantly turned her back against the tall woman as she approached, so she wouldn't be able to get a look at her, and crouched down to face the bloodied dark-haired mercenary still on the floor. 

[b]"Hey,"[/b] she said, patting him on the head to soothe him. An'zu always felt better when her brothers did that to her. [b]"Thank you for saving my life. I'll not forget this."[/b] She meant it, too.

Then she turned to the blonde merc, giving him a playful salute and a grin. [b]"You too, Blondie. Thanks for the rescue! I swear I'll pay you back someday, but I'll give you this for now."[/b] An'zu tossed him her bag of sweets and slowly backpedalled to the nearest alley. [b]"Take care of the guard lady's questions for me. I gotta run!"[/b]

With that, she scurried away to gods know where. She followed the road until the six corpses she'd left behind were no longer in sight. It wasn't until then that she realized she had been holding her breath for a while now. So she was affected, after all. It wasn't as though it was her first time witnessing a kill—when your country was practically at war with another, death was common sight. She just didn't expect to be the indirect cause of it, or to involve others in the process. 

An'zu ended up outside the blacksmith's, the same one she'd been to earlier that day, before she messed things up. She was still a little frazzled, but she was slowly regaining her composure. Forget about it, she chanted repeatedly in her head, like a mantra. A distraction would have been much appreciated, and An'zu was lucky it was nearly time for the joust.

[b]"Excuse me,"[/b] she waved at the raven-haired man who had just come out of the smith's. She wondered idly if the sword that hung at his side was new, like her arrows. [b]"Do you know where today's joust is being held?"[/b]