We're back to more Sassy Snake! We saw her last mission, but this is the first time in Konall's Grudge that we get to see her.

It's actually fairly sad for being a Sassy Snake piece, but still a good read.

 
Continuity note: This piece is set sometime after the last mission and before Dash's other appearances

 
Walking beside Sebastin Dash, Sassy feels safer and secure after the battle and the incident in the inn, the weird music and all.  She has to hurry her pace to keep up with him; he seems to be on the move and in quite a bit of a hurry.  Sassy doesn't bother him, for once, with questions since they are moving quite briskly. At least, it is at a brisk pace for her.  They seem to be heading north and they seem to be headed for Seaside Town, a place Sassy has never been but is curious about.  Try as she might, her pace can't equal that of Dash's and she becomes exhausted and lags. She tells Dash to go ahead while she takes a few minutes for a rest.  "No wonder they call him Dash", she says to herself as she catches her breath.  After a couple of minutes she gets up and follows his tracks north until she suddenly arrives at the top of a large hill that overlooks Seaside Town.

Looking down she can see it is a thriving and busy town with people going here and there, shopkeepers hawking their wares and crowded streets.  Heading down the hill, entering the gates, she finally begins to absorb the town.  It is a lot to take in.  Some of the inns she sees are tempting and enticing and a cold bev would sure go down good now. But she remembers the Snakeskin Inn affair and turns away from them to explore the town.  She wanders through the marketplace, buying some snacks here and admiring some cloth there and heads out to explore the town some more.  Before she is aware of it, she is down by the docks and watching workers load and unload ships.  She turns and in front of her is a small dingy cantina with a sign over the door that sends chills up her spine.  The sign says, "Big Joe's Place."

This must be the Big Joe the guy in the Snakeskin was talking about and, if it is, Sassy wants no part of him or his crowd.  Hurrying down some side streets, she finally ends up in a deserted dingy back alley.  She is halfway down it when she hears moaning and groaning and then the sound of running footsteps.  Not seeing too well in the dark, she moves deeper in to the alley and is stopped when a hand grabs her ankle.

Looking down, she sees a man with a flowing red beard and long black hair, deep blue eyes and a very large nose.  He is holding her ankle and moaning and as her eyes get used to the dark she can clearly see the knife that protrudes from his chest!  She thinks to herself, "Not good, Sassy girl.  Not good at all.  What have I stumbled in to now? I wish I had stayed with Dash."

The man coughs and blood and phlegm spatter the ground.  "Please, help me," he pleads in a weak voice.

"I will help you.  If you let go of my ankle, I will go get help and come back."

He only clutches your ankle more firmly.  "No!  Bring noone!  Don't know who I can trust in this town."

"But surely there must be doctors or someone to help you."  She bends down and begins to examine his wound.  Though the sight and smell of blood sickens her, she works to stop the flow.  She tries to remove the knife, but he looks like this seems to cause him more pain, so she stops.

He releases Sassy's ankle, but begs her to stay with him.  "My name is Karrak, the Camel Nose.  My uncle is a mushroom farmer near Degrassi. Will you help me?"

"I will help you, but I don't know what else to do for you."

"Just go to Degrassi and tell uncle Shava not to sell the farm!"  He reaches for his belt and shows her a blade.  "Here, take this as there may be much danger near Degrassi.  This is my blade and her name is Milanga.  She will serve you well."

"Thank you, Karrak."  You take the blade in its scabbard and put it on your belt.  "Here is something else for you."  With that he produces a mushroom and offers it to you.

Sassy starts to reach for it, but then stops, reaches for a belt pouch taking a pair of gloves from it and slipping them on before she takes the mushroom.  Karrak groans and moans some more.

He begins to rant and talk what sounds like nonsense to Sassy.  "Cats!  Feline empi . . .  Watch out for . . ." and then he breathes his last.

As Sassy is staring down at the man, she suddenly feels a burning sensation in her hands and looks at them to discover her gloves are smoking.  She drops them to the ground and realizes that the strange mushroom, blue with green and black spots on it, has done that and if she hadn't dropped it sooner her hands would have been burned.  She looks at the stranger's hands; they are hard with calluses but they aren't burned or scarred.  "That's strange," she says to herself.

She stands looking down at the dead body, and then she realizes that this is definitely not cool.  She doesn't have a good reason for being here, she is now wearing his blade, and worst of all she has no alibis or witnesses who have seen her or know what she has been doing.  If the authorities came now, this would not be good for her!  Reaching down, she takes her burned gloves and puts them back in her empty pouch.  She heads out of the alley and back toward the town as fast as she can.

Stopping at a tanner's booth, she buys another good pair of gloves and a pair of good boots, she also asks directions to get to Degrassi.  The old man at the booth shows her on a map where it is, but advises her that it is dangerous to go alone.  "'tis dangerous out there, missie. There's all kinds o' rumors goin' round 'bout killings and the like."

Sassy thanks him kindly for his help and advice, but heads out in the direction that will take her to Degrassi.  She waves a cheery salute to the soldiers at the gate as she heads out.

It's especially sad if you put together the connection to the rollover, but the next piece, which also features Becky and Zed, more than makes up for it in pure silly fun!