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Same old routine. Something she was used to by now. Ever since she had gotten into trouble by leaving the isles as a youngling she was sent to the market with her mother's newly woven baskets and she was to sell them. By now there were a few who automatically bought them, either to replace the ones they previously had or to give as gifts, and she made straight for them. Lately though she had noticed that there were a lot more people flooding the market than usual. At first she simply shrugged it off as others deciding they wanted to be involved in the community, but now, as she passed by a few people talking, she realized that wasn't the reason at all. It seemed that the whole of her race was being blamed for some group of extremists that wanted to take back the forests of Jauhar. Had she still been young she might have agreed whole heartily, now however, she didn't feel that way. The cause? Her friend Teiluj.

She frowned slightly as she thought about what that group of extremists would mean for her friend. They would push her out and alienate her more than she already was. It made V'demhe upset. Different or not, Aisha had accepted Maya's decision to have her. She was a gift from their mother. So why did others not see it that way? Did Aselia? She sold another one of her mother's baskets and was left with one more as she headed back out to the main area of the market. It didn't take her long to find the last buyer and once she was hands free she thought about heading home, however, there was a commotion that caught her attention. Edging closer to where it was she came upon a group of Alkidikes spewing their hate. These must be extremists as well, she thought.

“We have to take back our forests!” Shouting came, either in agreement or not. “Those shifters have taken up our land for long enough!” More shouts. V'demhe shook her head. What had the shifters done? They stayed in Jauhar and didn't come to the islands. No one did. So Aisha was safe from the other races that were out there. “Anyone that is friends with them is as good as one of them!” That statement hit Dem hard. She glared at the tall warriors in the center of the circle wondering if they had ever been to see the other races, if they had even tried to be friends with a mix of their own kind. Likely not. Her scowl didn't go unnoticed, however, and one of the women in the middle called out to her. “Do you disagree?” For a moment she simply remained silent. “Well? Are you a soft one that wants to share the forests with them?”

“If they respect our culture should we not respect theirs?” There. She'd said it. Her first words against the extremists and it looked like she might be alone. Some of the crowd that was near her backed away, leaving her to be singled out. “Have they hurt Aisha? Have they struck down her forests? If not then leave them be. I don't know about you, but I count a lot more of other races than I do of us.” And that was true. Granted the Alkidikes were known as warriors, but sometimes numbers out did skill.

Her answer did not please the women in the center of the commotion and they drew closer to her. V'demhe didn't back down, she simply watched them. When the leader of the small group was toe to toe with Dem she brought her face down at level and sneered. “Your mother did not raise you right if you have kindness for them.” And that was something no Alkidike stood for. The insult to their mother. V'demhe narrowed her eyes at the woman for a moment before she struck. Pride over took reason and she brought a hand up to connect with the tall Alkidike's chin. A fool proof uppercut that the woman couldn't avoid. This didn't sit well with the other warriors and she was soon absconded by one as the other struck her in the gut.

There was no way Dem wold get out of this scuffle without a few marks, but she would give as good as she got. Baring fangs and hissing she yanked her body out of the hold it was in and slammed her head forward to meet with the nose of the woman that was so brazen enough to go for a second blow to her stomach. Both reeled backward, Dem from a sudden headache, the other from a broken nose that gushed blood. The woman that she had hit first seemed to have recovered and tackled V'demhe to the ground. They hit hard and from there it was a tangle of limbs as the third member of the extremists party jumped in. Two against one was hardly fair, especially when one considered they were well trained and she was not, and just when it looked like Dem was going to lose she managed to get a good hit in and level the playing field. The anger that the other two had blinded them and caused them to make mistakes, mistakes that V'demhe took full advantage of.

A few minutes after the scuffle began it was over, with one Alkidike holding their nose as it bled, another knocked out from an elbow to the temple, and Dem holding the last of them down as she panted heavily. “Every one of us feels like we deserve to have the lands to ourselves, its part of who we are, but if no harm has come to us and ours then why should we become like the the rest of the races and fight or kill simply because we can?” With those words she got up and stumbled away from the three. She had red marks from where blows had landed, a cut cheek, and dirt the clung to her hair, skin, and clothes. V'demhe looked like a hot mess. Still breathing heavily she shook her head. “Cool your heads and think about it. Aisha granted life to those of use that are mixed. If she did not want them to exist she would not have given them a lotus. As for the other races.. if Aisha lets us mix with them, then they have done nothing to upset her.” With that she turned and limped her way through the crowd. Her mother was going to be upset that she had gotten into a fight. Mentally she prepared herself for more chores and likely some scolding.