Sanshā

The streets were almost empty, with the exception of a few merchants closing shop for today.
One of these merchants was supposed to be Guido Emerek, the "golden gut", as they called him. 36 grand investments and not one of them a failure! This had earned him a lot of money, so much in fact, that he planned to open up his own merchant guild.
But that didn't happen.
He stumbled across the streets, his massive stomach gurgling with anxiety and stress, hurting whenever he tried to gasp for air, the pipe in his mouth shivering with the same intensity as his lower lip.
Droplets of sweat ran down his face and hands and his embroidered shirt stuck to his broad chest.
In a silent alleyway, he came to a hold.
He just couldn't go on anymore.
He turned around and lost his balance in a realisation of shock, falling onto his rear.
"Wh- Who are you!? What do you want from me!?"
He wasn't a fighter, but his pursuer definitely seemed to be one;
It was woman in a blue coat, made from exotic materials.
Her one arm ended in a hand holding a rapier, the other arm missing, and in its place dangled limp and empty the coat's second arm. Her hair was tied up in a knot, but her ponie hastily swept over one side of her head, as if she didn't have enough time to tend to it.
She made a step forward and held the tip of her blade against Guido's neck.
"I want that satchel you're carrying. We wouldn't want you to get hurt now, would we?"
Her voice was warm and rather quiet, almost conflicting with the ravenous look in her eyes. Like two black holes, their pupils seemed to absorb all light surrounding them, until only her stare were the only thing to remain in this world.
"Of course!", Guido hissed through his teeth, "That's what all you bastards are after, right!? My money! You worthless good for nothing thieves!"
The woman sheathed the rapier into the inside of her coat and made two long steps towards the rotund man on the ground. She placed two fingers on his chest and began "walking" upward with them, until she reached his chin.
With a quick move, she snatched the pipe from his face and took a big hit from it, exhaling the smoke into the night sky.
"I fear that you misunderstood me. As much as I would love to take that money, I'm just not after it."
She lowered down, grabbed the satchel, then stood up to look through it's contents, throwing what she didn't need at the fat merchant below her.
"Trash. Worthless. No. No- Bingo!"
She emptied the rest of the satchel over his head, then held a small, unassuming bag against the moonlight.
Meanwhile Guido went on his knees, frantically trying to put the satchel's contents back in place.
"People like you... Triandalinous would be better off without you! Stupid pranksters, robbers, whor-"
In an instant, with a fluid movement that seemed as though the coat flew towards him on its own, his sentence was cut short;
"People like me are the reason why children survive to see another day. But you wouldn't understand that, would you? Far as I'm aware, you don't even have children to begin with."
The woman's voice turned into a furious row of hisses, now that her face was only inches away from his own, hand tightened around his throat.
This close up, Guido could make out a forked tongue and a bunch of sharp teeth, poking through from behind her lips.
A sight, burned into the memories of his younger days.
"You- You are that- that w-wretched...!"
Guido was terrified! His anger now replaced by the same fear he had while running away earlier that night.
"I am Sanshā. And that's all you need to know."
Without batting another look, she let go and turned heel in her sandals, casually strolling back the way she came.

With the rising of the sun, the citizens of the alleyway would find old Guido. Death by heart attack, proclaimed some experienced healers on the spot.
But this horrific scene would remain unnoticed by the little girl waking from her slumber, somewhere in another district.
"Morning mommy!" Energetic as she was, she jumped onto the waist of the woman looking across town, enjoying the golden dawn over a pipe.
Said woman put her pipe on the window board and drove her long fingers through the little girl's hair.
"Good morning angel. I'm sorry, but your mother isn't home yet."
Hastily, the girl let go and awkwardly bent her knee in embarrassment.
"Hello Miss Sanshā! Did you hunt monsters again this night?"

"Not quite. But I brought you something."
Sanshā searched her coat for a second, then she opened the little bag and placed two pellets in the girl's hand.
"Now, I know you don't like the taste, but-
I got your medicine."
The little girl was ready to show off her best disgusted expression, but reconsidered.
She knew how important these pellets were.
A few steps away, a wooden door fell into place and a malnourished looking woman entered the scene.
"Sanshā? Were you taking care of Alennie again?"

"Something similar", Sanshā giggled, "I brought your child her medicine." With these words, she put her pipe away and her foot on the window board.
The malnourished woman, suddenly on the verge of tears, let out a small shriek and ran over to shake the hand of her daughter's saviour;
"Milady, how will we ever repay all that you've done for us?!
I could never, I- I-"

"Don't mention it, love."
With these words, Sanshā jumped out of the window, a gliding blue coat of shiny silk, dancing, whirling, seemingly drifting in the wind.

Triandalinous was a big town, and every town had its unsung heroes or two. Sanshā wasn't one of them.
She was just a courier, in her own respective way.