"Now listen here ya little shit," Embyr snapped back at the taller human who she could probably snap like a twig with her bare hands or thighs. "Firstly, while I appreciate the sudden discovery of your spine, I do not take kindly to brats like you thinkin' you can go around being ungrateful swine."

The person she was speaking to was Cazador -mostly just Caz- who had been living at the tavern in exchange for some minor work while she found other employment. Embyr had found her no more than two weeks earlier in the alleyway behind her pub while going outside to move empty kegs around for the brewery to pick up. Sat on one of the barrels was a dark-haired, skinny looking thing who seemed to be in the middle of a full blown panic attack. It had gotten so bad that the fire genasi thought she was going to pass out from a lack of air. Rather than let this beanpole of a person suffocate themself she managed to coax her indoors and then get her to calm down.

As it turned out the woman had been recently separated from a very close friend while the two of them tried to find their own lives and that lack of support had crept up on Caz. In the middle of her first job running with a local gang a mishap with town guards made them scatter and she'd been abandoned. After booking it to somewhere safe her brain took over and there she was trapped in her own thoughts.

Embyr had snapped her out of in and in return the woman had offered to help her out as much as she needed; eventually bargaining her way into a room and board for some minor chores on the promise that she get a good job. No more running around like a lackey and skulking about around the guards. The innkeeper, impressed with how quick her mind and tongue were, decided that perhaps instilling some confidence into her would be a rewarding task itself. There was something about this woman that screamed potential and she was damned if another poor kid wound up mulched by the underworld.

What she didn't count on was how fast Caz would take to her teaching and to being taught various things. Her mind was sharp as a tack and it took only a couple of demonstrations for things to stick. Unfortunately this lead to her not only learning things rapidly but getting them accomplished rapidly too. With nothing to do Caz grew bored, frustrated and then finally irritable and snappy and Embyr did NOT stand for that shit one little bit. She'd brushed it off a few times at first but eventually her patience was drawn too thin and she'd rounded on the girl with a flash of fire in her eyes.

"At no point was I ungrateful!" Huffed the woman, her hands fidgeting as she replied. "I was just trying to-"

"Instead of trying to speak to me like I just crawled out from under your boot-" Embyr growled with a couple of steps towards the still somewhat nervous human to grab her by that loose shirt front and pull her down to eye level. "You look me in the eye and tell me what it is you want exactly. Right now."

Taken aback by the sudden grapple Caz lost the words before they'd had time to form in her brain and had it took a hot second for her brain to reboot. "I-I want to be treated like an equal. I'm not a child and I haven't been for almost a decade. I would appreciate it if you would treat me like an adult and not another one of your children."

The fire genasi paused for a moment while Cazador spoke and let her eyes wander to the skinny arms she was gesticulating softly with. Around each wrist were what appeared to be scars from either repeated wear or burns and on each hand there was a brand she didn't recognise and neither did anyone she asked. This kid had been through more than she'd ever let on and for that Embyr had given her some slack.

"Fine, kid. But next time be honest. Don't sulk around or snipe at me with bitchy little quips like I ain't got ears. Now come on these farm boys ain't smart enough to feed themselves."

---

So I bought the fire genasi off of  vexedpandemic entirely selfishly because I loved her design. And then she went and became a rather formative part of my warlock's history, starting Caz on her path to obtaining the true power of Big Bitch Energy. Yes. Embyr is responsible for the disaster that is Cazador.

I don't usually like doing such refined lines but I had a lot of fun sketching a nervous Caz ('nervous' is no longer in her body language and she could destroy lesser mortals with just a pop of her hip alone) so THIS WAS WEIRD TO DRAW. Embyr was a ton of fun and a half and I loved translating her into my 'style'.