A Risk, a Name, and an Ultimatum
Ilsa at night was quiet, even with the cutthroats and vagabonds braving the guard patrols the held the streets with an iron fist in the wake of the Princess’s ascension to rule. She’d made many enemies among the nobles and common folk alike. It was a wonder that General Matsumoto had been able to keep the peace, particularly with so many of the civilian guard on the payroll of Ilsa’s aristocracy. Ryuu didn’t care to stick his fingers into that particular mess. With his involvement, he could probably turn the entirety of Ilsa’s government on its head. This is why he would keep away from it, and instead busy himself with ridding the streets of the larger rats. The world had its share of troubles without him adding to them. The underground was already buzzing about the Serpent Shadow. He would have requests being posted everywhere soon, and he would be able to pick and chose his targets. He would appear the vigilante, the thug, the hired sword, of even the professional wet-worker. Either way, he would live by his own ethics. Then, perhaps, with time he would be able to leave this gods forsaken land, and leave it a little cleaner when he did. He longed to find his clan again, to atone for his deeds and his sins. But one did not travel in hell unprepared. He leapt from rooftop to rooftop, easily keeping his footing even on the sloped tiling and slick woods. Again he had his face hidden by the black cloth, leaving only his eyes and forehead exposed. His movement was as silent as it was swift, even the odd clinking of a tile not enough to give him away. He’d been able to traverse most of the city at this point, memorizing routes, escape paths, hiding spots and the overall layout of the city. He was quickly approaching his shop, but he passed it by, turning toward the Creahs shop a bit further off. Once he reached it, he checked the back alleyway. Five plants, potted and ready, sat on the stones outside. Perfect. Slinging himself down by the lip of the roof, he dropped nearly silently into the alley. He wasn’t alone. He’d planned for the next time she showed herself. “I know you’re there, watchdog. You’ll not come any closer to finding me out by slinking in the shadows I call home.” There was nothing for a moment. Only silence and shadows. “I won’t let you harm my sister. What do you want from her?” Annya stepped out from the adjoining alleyway, a dagger held in one hand. He met her eyes, green to amber. He quickly noted her definite Andin features, but held her eyes primarily. He stood there, motionless, but relaxed. “Say something, damn you!” “If I wanted to bring harm to Terise Creahs, Annya, then she would already be dead. I know who you are, and you could not stop me. Neither of you could.” Anger flared behind those calm features, and the knuckles gripping the dagger became white. Ryuu stepped forward, checking that his sword was ready just in case with a shift of his elbow. He came closer, reaching a hand into a pocket, pulling out a sealed envelope. “You and I are not so different. You know from my eyes and yours we share a homeland. You have felt loss, as have I. You seek to protect, as I had, and was banished for. You have taken life, and much of it. As I have. Your eyes say much, even if you do not. I am the Exile that has given your sister gold for her service and her silence. If you so wish, I can break the silence I have held on her in turn, end her usefulness to me. Or you can be smart, and lower your weapon, and deliver this to her. All will be made clear when she reads it.” He stopped short of the door, offering the letter toward Annya. The woman hesitated. He wasn’t surprised. A man with blood on his hands, offering a peaceful way out. Most would think it a fool’s story, but then, perhaps he was a fool after all. Finally, she stepped forward, lowering the dagger and sheathing it. “I don’t trust you. By even the smallest amount, and if you hurt Terise, you will not escape me.” “I do not ask your trust. I ask you to deliver something to your mistress, nothing more." Annya snatched the letter from his hand, and instantly broke the seal, waving it a few times to the side. Clearly checking it for lacings or poisons, which there were none of. She was paranoid as a raw trainee jumping at every movement of their masters. She unfolded the letter inside and scanned it over, stopping to reread it a few times before slipping it back in. “I will give it to h-“ She spoke to nobody, the alleyway empty. Ryuu himself was already perched on the arch atop the building, looking down with two of the five plants cradled beneath his arms. They would do for now. His greatest purpose of the night was accomplished. He moved back toward his shop, determined to rest at least some before the night was finished. He was taking a large gamble with this, but he was confident in his initiative. It was going to be a busy day. Annya simply stared down the ally, looking from one side to the other before looking down at the letter once more. Raising an eyebrow, she sighed a little as she shook her head. Why, after so long, does Exile want to end the silence that had kept everyone relatively safe so far. Everything was riding on everyone not knowing one another. Looking down at the letter, she raised an eyebrow. He wants Terise to come out and meet him. Annya felt off about this, but then again, she was not one to tell her sister what she could or could not do. So it was now up to her sister to decide what was going to happen. Slowly stepping into the shop, pulling the door closed behind her. Scanning over the letter, she sighed as she looked over the words once more before giving it to her sister. Terise Creahs, You've exceeded my expectations with your work. Efficient. Careful. But in other ways, you can be reckless and foolhardy. I know you send your dear sister to see lives ended on a whim. It is time to met your benefactor face to face. Tomorrow evening at the tenth bell, I will await you on the northernmost docks. You may bring your pet sister if you so wish. Let no one else follow. - Exile Something just seemed so off about this assassin wanting to suddenly be friendly with Terise. She did not trust him, not as far as she could pick up the shop and throw it. Though, in the note it did say that Terise could bring her. So maybe he truely did want a peaceful way out of all this. She sighed, making her way up the stairs towards Terise. "Sister? Exile left you another message..." "Oh? Bring it here. What does he want now? And did he get his plants and leave the gold?" "No, he did not get all his plants just yet, so there's no gold... But this might interest you..." Terise span around in her seat, looking up from a strange looking fish. Terise had been dabbling in more and more strange types of poisons, the reason why she had a few different creatures in cages around the room. There were a few different tiny glass boxes, each one holding something different. One was holding a few strangely bright blue frogs, another holding a few small snails, one even had a beautiful tan snake coiled in the bottom of the cage. One cage was full of water though, a few strange fish floating around. The fish in front of her was the same as the ones in the cage. "Really now...? Is he interested in the new line of work I'm trying to start?" She spun around back in her seat, looking down at the Fish again. She had on gloves, carefully cutting around different parts of the fish. She seemed excited as she got closer to the table, looking over the organ. "I've heard stories about this fish! This little organ here? It holds some somewhat deadly poison that causes people to go paralyzed. Their die because the muscles that are used to breath are numbed. I want this organ, but then there are other parts that I want to cut through so I can prepare the fish. If you bust this sack, it's an intense poison you can practically taste. There is another one in here that if you bust it? You will not taste it. I'm going to fillet it, bust that sack, then I want you to deliver this and a few other things to a family that apparently wronged someone a while back. None of my business, but apparently they want that family completely out of the picture..." Annya just watched as Terise continued with what she was doing, simply chattering away about the different poison properties of the fish. She sighed a little, sitting down on the table, crossing her legs at the knees as she looked over at one cage, shivering with a look of disgust on her face as she looked into the face of a giant spider. But it was under glass, she was happy. "No, he said that he wants to meet you... Apparently he likes your work, but he thinks that you're reckless. I don't know why he suddenly wants to meet you sister. I don't approve of this... I think that just as soon as you turn your back that he's going to take advantage of your 'trust' because of how he continues to pay regardless of the price..." "Annya! That is no way to treat one of our most valued customers... If he wants to meet me, then we will meet. Of course you will come with me, and you will be prepared. Your daggers will be prepped, and you will carry more poisons than usual. If I give you the signal, you are to unleash everything you have on him... Hold nothing back, do you understand, Annya?" "Yes, sister... I just still don't trust him..." "I understand, but if he wishes to meet up then we need to humor him if nothing else. Simply because we need to keep him quiet..." "I know... After this though, and after the delivery, I need... to go somewhere... I need to find someone..." Terise simply nodded before turning and looking back down at the fish as she removed the organ, setting down to the side before slowly preparing the rest of the fish. Annya just looked down at the letter once more, sighing. "I still don't think this is a good idea....." Later that evening Ryuu waited atop the boathouse roof at the northernmost pier, legs folded and still as the night. The tenth bell of the evening had yet to sound, but he would rather be early and make sure there were no unnecessary distractions. By now the harbor guards were already sleeping on the job; the drug in their private drinking water reserves would keep them under for at least an hour, and even if they were discovered, the laxness of the harbor guard was near appalling. The docks were mostly empty in the hours of coming twilight, save for the late arrivals of trading vessels, and they were at the far end. The entirety was spanned by lines of large warehouses where items bound for the markets or the seas were stored. For now, the hiss of the shifting tides and the spray of the water greeted him, and he took a momentary meditation. Still wearing the cloth mask, sis sword was strapped to his back, the hilt protruding over his right shoulder. Several dozen needles lined the insides of his clothes, and some were even meticulously slipped under the very top layer of the skin on his forearms. A painful process, but only temporarily. The poisons that laced them did not even give him a shiver, the toxins in his blood already more potent than any single dose he could take, and his resistances holding each one of them at bay. In the distance, the silence was broken by the ringing of a bell. Ten times it rang, marking the tenth hour after midday. He opened his eyes, and watched the deepening darkness as he waited. It did not take long for him to see the two coming up toward the docks. They spoke in hushed voices, and Annya looked particularly tense, her hands stiff and arms bent, clearly ready to grab for her daggers at a moment’s notice. Terise walked with more assurance, that violet dress swaying with her strides, but it was clear she was almost as nervous as Annya. They began to make their way down the dock itself, the boards beneath them rocking with the waves. Good. At least they both had the sense to anticipate traps. “I don’t like this. Where is he? He said tenth bell, and its tenth bell.” “Relax, Annya. I’m sure he’ll be here. He still owes us the gold for the plants, remember.” “It has to be a trap. Why call us so far out of the city?” He smirked darkly under his mask as he pushed himself up with his legs. Taking to a run, he leapt off the roof, twisting himself in mid-air as he fell, and landed with a soft thump with one hand and one knee to the ground. Annya spun around, daggers in hand and jaw clenched, and Terise wasn’t far behind, her rapier half out of its sheathe. He stood, showing himself, and Annya relaxed a bit, simply glaring at him but lowering the daggers. Terise glanced at her, and then sheathed her blade. “So you may see, Annya, what I have done with the gift of your sister’s plants and neutrality in these last months. Come.” He turned his back to them, having no fear of them trying to attack him. Their curiosity would stay their hand, and even if it didn’t, there was only so far the element of surprise could get someone. He moved toward one of the warehouse doors, extracting a key from the small pouch on his belt, and slipped it into a large, iron lock holding the doors closed. He could hear the other two following. Pulling the lock off, he pulled one of the doors open, ushering them inside. Lamps burned within, casting a light glow onto wooden tables covered in hundreds of different plants in clay pots. Another was laden with cages, large and small. Animals sat within; here, a white snake raised its head, tongue flicking out to taste their scent. A white asp, which could kill within minutes. A large spider, covered in hair and as large as a man’s palm, stalked lethargically around the cramped inside of another, and next to it, encased in glass, a tiny black spider with red markings. In the middle sat all kinds of chemical mixing tools; beakers, mortars and pestles, vials and glass tubes joining many of them. Terise inhaled sharply, whether from shock or glee, he couldn’t be sure. Annya looked as perturbed as ever, her expression growing darker. “Your new research is a fledgling in a nest next to a soaring falcon, Miss Creahs. Poisons are my specialty, and you may benefit from my knowledge.” He moved to a chair against the wall, sitting near two others. He motioned toward them as he took his own, Terise and Annya coming over and sitting as well. Clearly they knew when it was time for business. Terise eyed him quizzically. “Why, after all this time, do you decide to trust us with revealing yourself instead of keeping silence?” “Because you stumble about in the dark, taking money bought in blood simply because there is want of it spilled, and a price put to it. Your sister stumbles over her own feet, leaving trails that any infant of my clan could trace. You two are like children playing clumsily at a game, and you will become upset when you learn there are rules to it.” Terise flushed in clear anger at the blunt and blatant insult, and Annya ground her teeth together with a crack, looking all the world as though she were ready to lunge at him. Good. Let them be angry, at least they would listen. Terise put a hand on Annya’s shoulder, and the other woman relaxed slightly, thumping against the back of the chair. “We are not here to be subject to your criticisms, Exile. We are here to know what you in--…Master Kaitan?!” Terise’s voice nearly rose to a shout as Ryuu pulled down the cloth mask, letting it settle at his neck. She seemed flabbergasted, but Annya just sat there with a look of confusion. “Who?” “Master Kaitan, Kaitan Sura…He owns the Andin apothecary not far from our shop. It was you, all this time?!” He simply nodded, leaning forward slightly, resting one forearm on his knee. Anger them, make them listen. Then surprise them, and offer them a symbol of trust. It was a great risk he was taking, but he would not be able to move forward if he did not. “That is a name I bear, yes. It is not my name, but it is a name you may know for now.” Annya seemed even more tense, and Terise slumped back in her chair, bewildered. “I show you this because if you do not learn the rules of this game you play, you will be the one that loses. You are useful to me, and I do not take losing an asset easily. One, I offer you protection, should your deeds run afoul of the wrong person. Second, you will learn of what I know in the making of poisons. Thirdly, I will teach your ‘sister’ in what it is to be a true assassin. But in exchange, you maintain your silence, you continue your work to gather what I demand, and you consider your targets far more wisely. Striking at anyone in the castle was a foolish move, and could have been enough to draw the attention of General Matsumoto. You would have had a platoon of soldiers breaking down your door, and your blood would have been on your sister’s hands.” Their expressions both darkened. A mixture of curiosity, anger, anxiety, greed, and several other emotions were clear on their faces. He waited for their answer, keeping Terise’s eyes firstly. Terise's face was the first to relax, simply closing her eyes and lacing her fingers together as she almost seemed to digest what he had said. She could hear Annya's foot thumping against the floor in discomfort. Finally, lifting her head slightly, looking at him with an almost smirk on her face. "You say to learn the rules of a game... And yet you assume we are the ones who are taking this lightly. We knew that things could go south, and we could pass away. We wholly accept that. As far as demanding? You not so earthshaking that you DEMAND anything of me. If I determine not to collect what plants you REQUEST of me, then you shall not get that shipment. I personally hand pick what orders I will go to collect. The only reason why YOURS are always chosen are because of your aptitude to continue to pay, and pay well. Mother and Father might not have dealt in the darker sides of plants, but I understood that it pays well. And that is one thing I will never let my mother and father down on. They wanted me to make a good life for myself, and Annya. And I continue to do that in one only way I understand how..." She leaned forward in her own chair, watching him carefully before turning and looking around the warehouse. She could practically feel the disgust oozing from Annya as she turned to look the pale faced woman in the eyes, causing Annya to worry a little though as she saw a shimmer in Terise's eye that always meant that she thought of something, and something that would usually end getting Annya involved with something. "Even if you come across who is far too conscious of their own talents, and too full of themselves to mask they know? You do have a point. Annya does need a bit more guidance, even if her abilities to blend into her surroundings are very favorable..." "Sister! You do not -" "Annya, be quiet sweetie..." She leaned over and patted Annya's leg, smiling a little as she turned look Exile directly in the eyes, suddenly turning serious as she leaned back against the chair once more. "Silence is required for both ends. My life honestly is nothing. Everything comes and goes in this life and if it is my time then so be it. Your threats to end MY life fall short of impressing, Exile. Your attitude also is lacking in any sort of depth or tact. Yes, you have a clan. Yes, you have more experience. But when it comes down to it, you are not the superior, so you are on the same level as Annya and I. But... If you are not willing to change your tune, regardless of our abilities or our experience, then this business relationship is over. I have no need for your attitude... Trust me. I have plenty of my own..." She just smiled her absolutely sickeningly sweetest smile, crossing her legs at the knee as she raised an eyebrow, waiting for a moment as she turned to look at Annya. "What do you think, dear sister?" "I believe he is a hollow souled idiot, who is too full of himself and far too confident in his abilities. People like him talk big, but when he is confronted by people of equal or greater abilities, then he falls short and runs like a scared child. But when it comes to people like you and me, he's far too eager to croak all the louder, and fluff his feathers all the more. I STILL don't trust him, and to be honest I believe even now he's simply waiting. He's waiting until we're of no use, then he's going to kill us both. And how do we know if we're even still of any use to him now?! How are we sure that he's not just waiting until it's time 'to go' and he's not going to lock us in this warehouse and watch his little toxic PETS finish us off?!" Annya motioned around the warehouse before turning and pointing at Exile, glaring and grinding her teeth. Terise simply smiled, reaching out and gently pressing her sister's hand down, turning to look over at Exile as she raised an eyebrow. "My sister speaks the truth... How DO we know that's not your plan? We've lived so far by trusting no one, and it's proven to be successful. Prove to us, in a way other than just showing some warehouse, that you mean us no harm... Give us your real name. Or something of value."