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"You want me to do what?"
The skakdi sighed. "I told you. M' bar's basement is full of rats. They're drinking all the piraka milk. Go kill 'em or sumthin', will ya?"
Quili reached beneath her kanohi to pinch the bridge of her nose. "You really sent for someone just to kill some rats? Seriously?"
The skakdi finished wiping a mug and set it down. "Listen. Piraka milk is a national treasure. I can't have rats drinking it all. May as well be treason. And I'm no fighter meself, too busy with me bar to go around smashing heads."
Rubbing some dirt off her mask, Quili took a few moments to consider the barkeep's words.
"Well," she began slowly. "I suppose I could use the widgets."
A hearty chuckle left the skakdi as he grabbed a set of keys and set them on the bar. "Now you're speakin' my language, toa. Door's over there. It's the pink key. You can leave the bodies, I'll use 'em in the special or sumthin'."
Making a mental note to never eat at the bar ever, Quili grabbed the keys and moved to the surprisingly-exquisite wooden door. Taking only a split-second to admire the elaborate carving on it, she inserted the key and opened the door.
"Close it behind you, will ya!" the skakdi called back.
Quili nodded and closed the door as she descended the few steps. Out of view of any bar patrons or employees, she decided it would be safe to use her elemental powers, generating a ball of light to illuminate the musty basement.
The wooden steps creaked as she descended. Where the door would have looked more at home in a manor, the stairs were damp and rotting.
"Woah!" Quili exclaimed as she ducked to avoid a gout of flame falling from the ceiling. As her backside fell onto the step behind her, she noted the culprit.
A horned rat snarled at her from where it fell further down. The fur on its chin was matted with some sort of green fluid. There were no signs of burn marks on its body.
As the rat leapt at her, Quili grunted as she shoved with her foot, knocking the rodent to the bottom of the stairs. She got up, using her mask of speed to rush down the steps, letting her momentum aid her in swinging her staff right into the rat's head.
With a growl she bent down to check the body.
Dead.
With a sigh Quili looked around the rest of the basement, expending more elemental energy to further light the basement.
Fire.
Quili flailed, managing to knock the rat off her face. Suddenly the basement was filled with rats, all bursting into flames intermittently.
"Irnakk's spine, there better be some good pay," Quili growled to herself, activating her kakama again to rush around the room.
Even with her mask, the rats were able to stain her already-grimy red armor with scorch marks and soot.
In the end, however, they were still simply rats, horns and fire notwithstanding. More than a dozen rats laid dead spread around her.
Quili made another mental note to leave out the exact amount of time she spent catching her breath in the basement. Any time above zero was too long to her.
Trudging back up the stairs, Quili pushed open the door and approached the bar again, squeezing between patrons who had not been present before.
"Ah, there she is!" the barkeep exclaimed, spreading his arms wide and nearly dropping a mug. "Take care of all those rats, did you?"
Quili noticed none of the patrons batted an eye at the mention of rats. She gave the skakdi a nod. "All dead. You didn't mention they burst into flames."
The skakdi grabbed a shockingly-clean glass with a long stem and set it before Quili, pouring a pale, glowing green fluid into it. "Well, not like I looked at 'em," he replied. "Did they have horns too? Prob'ly lava rats, then. Think there was some merchant sellin' 'em in market a few days ago."
Quili tentatively grabbed the stem of the glass, mentally preparing herself as she brought it up under her kanohi and against her lips. The liquid fizzed in her mouth, but went down smooth when she swallowed.
The flavor made her want to go somewhere tropical and die.
The skakdi sent down a generously-sized pouch with a lovely clack. "Your widgets. And that Bahrag Blast is on the house. I appreciate the service."
Quili could only nod and grab the sack, her mind too busy grappling with the taste of the piraka milk to form words.
Pushing open the front door into a dusty town, Quili left the bar with absolutely no intention of ever returning.