Completed A Thief in the Night

Sung Chei

The Mist
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Dusk. Sung Chei had been watching the building for a long while. He knew what many didn't, that one of Elbion's crime lords trafficked slaves through this building. And while it wasn't a safehouse where the trafficked slaves were kept. It was used for logging the numbers and overviews of each individual slave, and they were organised and stored there.

He wasn't after any specific slave, he was after the operation and all of their records. And so he waited for the opportune moment. He would get in, get the locations of their camps and auctions, and get out.

A shadow. Hidden in the cloudy night but not invisible, not to him. The figure sat on a rooftop, much like he, and looked at the same building. He or she looked to do as he did or rob the place, either way they were either a potential ally or an enemy. But the figure went to his target building first, and he would have to be smart about how he gave chase.
 
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The air tasted foul.

Rania sucked in a sharp breath. The memories of her past were hazy some days, but never fully forgotten. The cold air left a tingle on her skin and the hair on her neck stood up. Her years as a slave were long over, but she still carried bitterness in her heart; full of spite and never ending her revenge. The raven haired made it her personal mission to ruin every slave trader’s day, until she no longer was – or they had ceased to exist. The latter was unlikely, but a girl could dream.

Now, Rania was no one-woman-army and there was only so much a single person could do; in her case however that was still plenty.

The traders always left something behind for her to steal and once in a while she could even free some of the women and children. What Rania lacked in physical strength the dainty woman made up in precision, stealth and wit. She had been hovering around the city for a few days now and now, sitting idly on top of a building’s roof, cloaked in black and armed with her trustiest of daggers (poisoned of course) and her most reliable bow, she was lying in wait like a vulture.

But much to her dismay Rania wasn’t alone.

If it weren’t for another person lurking in the darkness, much like herself, she would have gotten to work hours ago, but without knowing who – or what – she was dealing with, the rogue wasn’t going to take a risk. Instead, she decided to force interaction: that way she’d at the very least know if tonight was a good time to strike or if she would have to come back another day.

Lowering herself and readying the bow, Rania aimed her arrow at the unknown figure...and shot.
 
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An arrow sped it’s way towards him. Lucky for him, he’d been shot at before. And with his years of practice and intense concentration he caught the arrow before it met his heart. Normally he wouldn’t have to worry about arrows, but he wasn’t wearing his armor. Casting the arrow aside he dropped from the roof silently and without making a sound approached the woman there.

He carried only his twin jian swords, perfect for a stealth mission, which were far more close-quarters than his ji polearm. He approached her with both of them still sheathed. He wasn’t too worried about her as an opponent, while there was always a chance, he’d met few on these western continents that were his match in the martial ways.

He wore a vest of white and black tiger fur, vambraces of the same thing, and loose white pants tucked into boots of grey cloth with leather soles. His belt was the only thing that wasn’t light of color, it was instead black, and from it hung his twin swords. His upper arms and shoulders were bare, sporting frankly huge muscles for someone of such small stature, at least compared to most men. He was slightly shorter than she, but not by much.

“What is your purpose here?” He asked quietly.
 
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Her arrow vanished into the night.

The figure disappeared along with it, but the lack of a thud – a sound indicating that somebody had fallen – only put her on higher alert. Rania squinted, but nothing could be seen in the darkness and it looked like the woman had met her match.

When a voice appeared behind her Rania audibly gasped for air and abruptly turned around. He confronted her in a low voice, revealing that he too didn’t want to get caught. “I am having a picnic of course, what does it look like I’m doing here–,” she hissed, her voice harsh and irritated. Rania slid the dagger she had pulled out earlier back into its leather sheath and assessed the person in front of her.

He – a man – was surprisingly short, like a child almost. His attire and expertise revealed that he was no such thing though and Rania knew better than to underestimate a person due to their appearance. He looked to be the stealthy type and upon closer inspection the woman noted that he was armed to the teeth, but clearly not one of them. If anything, he was different from the people from these lands and although Rania thought she recognized the wardrobe, she could not quite place it.

“You are a foreigner, are you not.” She whispered. “My business here is none of yours, but since you asked nicely: it’s with the people down there.” Her voice was still sharp enough to cut and as she spoke Rania’s hand pointed downwards at the building they’d both been spying on.
 
“You are a foreigner, are you not.” She whispered. “My business here is none of yours, but since you asked nicely: it’s with the people down there.” Her voice was still sharp enough to cut and as she spoke Rania’s hand pointed downwards at the building they’d both been spying on.

"Then your business is mine. As I have come here for the same reason, or at the very least, a similar one." Sung Chei said back, unfazed by her tone. "What is your exact objective? I intend to learn the locations of their operations. And bring them down. I imagine you are here to rescue the slaves."
 
Rania frowned.

Her expression still tainted by irritation and confusion, the raven haired ran a hand through her long, silken mane and vehemently shook her head. “I’m not here to rescue anybody,” she snarled and nodded at the building. “And there’s no plan either: I’m going to sneak in, assess the situation and see what I can do and how I will do it.”

To give her credit, Rania was a very spontaneous person.

Flexible both physically and mentally, the pretty rogue trusted her instincts and did whatever she deemed necessary and right in that moment – until now her ways had never failed her. “There’s a lot of people in there who don’t deserve to be in the situation they are in.” For a moment her features turned weary, but it would be too dark for him to make out.

Since he already knew her location and had guessed her intentions Rania figured there’d be no point in arguing it. “I don’t care, as long as you don’t try anything funny.” She pointed her chin at the arrows she was carrying with her. “Or you won’t see the next one coming.” After that she wordlessly opened one of the roof windows of the building and slipped into the darkness.
 
His only response to her threat was a soft grunt. “So you have no idea what you’re doing. That is a good way to get killed. Especially when it involves people who have no conscience and take no chances. So what I sent you’re plan to exit if you’re caught? An did what do you plan to do if they decide to move what they have here.”
 
“I know exactly what I am doing, thank you very much.” Rania snarled at the little man, a tad bit offended at the statement – and assumption – he had made. Of course her initial plan had been thrown into a wayward path, but that was because of him and not her. “I won’t get caught, and I will notice them before they notice me.” She explained to Sung Chei before slipping through the roof window. If he wanted to follow along, now would be his best chance.

“This is still none of your business, by the way.” Rania added at last before disappearing into the darkness. A tingle went through her limbs, as her seismic sense allowed the raven haired to scan the surrounding area for potential threads. There, on the floor of the attic, it was not only pitch black, but eerily quiet. That is until the stranger decided to speak up again.
 
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“I know exactly what I am doing, thank you very much.” Rania snarled at the little man, a tad bit offended at the statement – and assumption – he had made.

"Then what are you doing?" He asked calmly, he'd be happy to admit to being wrong if she were to provide sufficient evidence that he was, in fact, wrong.


“I won’t get caught, and I will notice them before they notice me.” She explained to Sung Chei before slipping through the roof window. If he wanted to follow along, now would be his best chance.

"Overconfidence. Pride before the fall." Was his response to this before dropping in soundlessly after her.


“This is still none of your business, by the way.” Rania added at last before disappearing into the darkness.

"On the contrary. You are a variable in my own plans, week's in the making. So yes, it my is business." He said simply, still quietly and calmly.

So she disappeared into the blackness of the attic, not an issue. He could still tell where she was, but she was of no immediate concern, since someone was coming their way. Soundlessly he leapt upward and used his feet in full splits to hold onto the rafters above, so that he was out of the way, and in perfect position to kill.
 
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Rania muffled a sigh. This one was certainly getting on her nerves, but considering the dire situation and the strain it put on her mentality, the woman was almost grateful for the odd and unexpected company. Of course she would never admit to that though.

Rania took notice that he, much like herself, was perfectly quiet in his movements and relieved by this, she no longer worried about having him tag along – at least not this far. The attic was dusty and low in height, but otherwise mangable territory.

“In that case,” she growled as quietly as possible, “why don’t you tell me what your grand plan is and I’ll see where I can fit in.” She hated that idea, but in this situation this seemed like her – their – best bet. A sudden tingle went through Rania’s body and climbed up her spine. The woman immediately shut her mouth as her seismic sense picked up on motion.

The stranger keeping her company seemed to have noticed too and while Rania slowly pulled a dagger a band around her waist, she decided to continue to lie in wait until either – Sung Chei or whoever was approaching – made their first move.
 
“In that case,” she growled as quietly as possible, “why don’t you tell me what your grand plan is and I’ll see where I can fit in.”

“I’m here to gather knowledge about where their operations are based. Then I plan Tom gather together a militia and bring them to their knees.” He explained, before he heard the steps.

Once the newcomer was just past him, he dropped soundlessly to the floor, seized his chin and the back of his head and swiftly broke his neck.
 
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“Well,” Rania arched a brow at the sudden and quick display of skills. Not bad, she thought. Not bad at all. The body fell to the ground and she swiftly followed after, landing quietly on her feet and looking around to see if she could hear or sense anything – or anyone – in particular. Nothing, for now. Rania shot the man another glance and slacked her shoulders.

“Alright,” she spoke, finally giving in. “My name is Rania, and I’m here on a treasure hunt. I’m looking for valuables, but I don’t mind a dead body here and there, or freeing the occasional slave should the opportunity arise.” She wasn’t straight-forward still, but that had to be enough.

This place was filled to the brim with mercenaries, she was sure of it, and if she wanted to get to the room with all the important documents, having an extra pair of hands surely couldn’t hurt. She glanced at Sung Chei one more time before carefully moving forward in the dark.
 
“Alright,” she spoke, finally giving in. “My name is Rania, and I’m here on a treasure hunt. I’m looking for valuables, but I don’t mind a dead body here and there, or freeing the occasional slave should the opportunity arise.” She wasn’t straight-forward still, but that had to be enough.

“So you’re a common thief.” He said with distaste. “How interesting.”

So he went forward, and silently trod through the halls, with her in tow he would assume. Anyone who came across him would be swiftly put down. And he’d move on with sure footed silence, no longer paying the woman any heed. A thief, a common thief, how foolish of him to think any differently.
 
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“And you are full of judgement,” the thief replied. “How plain.” Yes, there was nothing noble about her profession, but the world had treated her harshly and Rania had no intentions of ever giving back to anyone but herself.

The stranger seemed disgusted by that, but it didn’t matter to her. To Rania, only her own principles were relevant and she didn’t need somebody else’s approval. They continued creeping through the dark and the woman made sure to keep a tab on his movements; her seismic sense once again proving to be invaluable.

Eventually, Rania came across a locked door. There was no one inside, but she highly suspected there to be something of value behind it and so she pulled a pin from her long braid and began picking the lock.
 
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“And you are full of judgement,” the thief replied. “How plain.”

He didn’t dignify this with a response. How could he not judge thieves? They took things that weren’t theirs, caused harm to those who owned these items. There were noble thieves out there sure, but they were few and far between, and many thieves tried to pretend that they were noble in order to avoid consequences. Whether she was one of these or an honest one regarding her nature remained to be seen.

They approached a door and she began to work on the lock. He couldn’t deny, that was definitely useful right then.
 
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Were heroes supposed to be this arrogant?

Rania didn’t know Sung Chei’s intentions, but since he was here with her–inside a slaver’s den–she couldn’t help but assume that they were at least somewhat noble. Still, his rude personality and sour disposition were off-putting.

He kept a close eye on her, and Rania returned the favour. He made no motion to attack or dispose of her, and she could only guess that he (much like herself) was no fan of unnecessary bloodshed.

Rania finished picking the lock and pushed the door open. The room was dark and, by the looks of it, used as an office. She hushed over to the den desk and began looking through the paperwork. It was hard to see anything in the dark, but there was a used candle along with some matchsticks nearby which the thief quickly utilized to light up the area.

“Close the door,” she whispered and began reading through the documents. There were some house deeds, buildings they had acquired in different cities in order to store their wares – whatever those may be. Rania also found a few maps, and all of them had a suspicious amount of marks on them.

“Look,” she said and turned one of the maps around so her strange companion could see. “There’s marks on here, and I know some of them to be small villages. That one here,” she pointed at a little X near a large lake, “is a fishing village. It hosts families and elderly people.” A hint of concern showed in her voice.

Perhaps those places were where they found their victims?
 
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“Close the door,” she whispered and began reading through the documents. There were some house deeds, buildings they had acquired in different cities in order to store their wares – whatever those may be. Rania also found a few maps, and all of them had a suspicious amount of marks on them.

“Look,” she said and turned one of the maps around so her strange companion could see. “There’s marks on here, and I know some of them to be small villages. That one here,” she pointed at a little X near a large lake, “is a fishing village. It hosts families and elderly people.” A hint of concern showed in her voice.

She didn't even need to say it. He had closed the door even as she opened her mouth to speak. Then she pointed out the marks on the map, and he heard concern creep into her voice. He may get be wrong about her, just as she was wrong to think of him as a hero. He was no hero, and he never intended to be. More often than not be was a mercenary, other times he was a simple, traveling monk. Not a hero.

She explained to him what these villages were. "How old does the ink look, the ink used to make the Xs. If it's too old we may already be too late to prevent them from taking those people. Keep looking through these maps, I'll start looking through their records and reports to help narrow down what exactly we're seeing."

And with that he began to sort and look through files and papers found in drawers and on shelves. It would take fifteen minutes for him to piece together useful information, and bring it to the maps for them to look over what exactly was going down.

"Is there anything on the place where they keep their slaves?" He asked, "if so I need to know that information."
 
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To Rania’s surprise, the stranger was cooperating. With the lamp in one hand and a bunch of papers in the other, the thief began scanning one document after another, searching for something useful. His question left her speechless for a moment, and she merely shook her head.

“I have no fucking clue how old the ink is,” she gave back, clearly flabbergasted by his suggestion. Did he know how old the ink was? Was this something she should learn for the future? Rania shook her head and simply continued her work. “If I were to take a guess, I would say we are too late for most of these, if not all of them.” She found a larger map, one that showed that all the villages lay, in some proximity, around Elbion.

“Look, this is a layout of the building we are in at the moment, but I think the route we took through the roof isn’t on the map.” She hovered the light over the piece of paper and showed it to Sung Chei. There was something in the basement labeled as ‘den’ and she pointed it out to him.

“This looks suspicious, but we would have to make it past the entire crew to get this far.” Rania was confident in her skills, but she wasn’t suicidal.
 
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“I have no fucking clue how old the ink is,” she gave back, clearly flabbergasted by his suggestion.

“Look closely, and make a guess about how long it’s been there.” He said to her, while he wasn’t the most polite guy he was definitely on the more calm side.

“If I were to take a guess, I would say we are too late for most of these, if not all of them.” She found a larger map, one that showed that all the villages lay, in some proximity, around Elbion.

She sighed, “great. No issue. These slavers won’t be alive much longer.”

“Look, this is a layout of the building we are in at the moment, but I think the route we took through the roof isn’t on the map.” She hovered the light over the piece of paper and showed it to Sung Chei. There was something in the basement labeled as ‘den’ and she pointed it out to him.

“This looks suspicious, but we would have to make it past the entire crew to get this far.” Rania was confident in her skills, but she wasn’t suicidal.

He looked over the layout, and read the word den. It suggested something a little more sinister than just a place to keep slaves overnight until they could be transported further then sold. “We can get past them. You have a bow and your accuracy with it is quite good, and I can handle those of them who get too close. And if we’re sneaky about it, we won’t have too much trouble.”
 
To make an educated guess on how old the ink was and how long it had been on the document, Rania would have needed at least a little bit of experience or knowledge in that matter – but she didn’t. “I don’t know, could be days to weeks,” she scoffed as quietly as possible and put the map down.

Then, he finally revealed his intentions for this place and the people it was hosting and even though they were quite gruesome, Rania had no problem with getting rid of slave traders. What they did was unjust and they polluted the air. It was usually not the type of mission she went on by herself, but today she had good company, or so it seemed.

“Alright, bow it is then.” She knew that he was right and in a location like this, Rania was probably better off with a long-ranged weapon. It could still be very effective if used right, even in a tight environment like this. “Okay, let's get going then.” She said and headed back out of the door. It was still dark and her seismic sense ability told her that no one had approached.

The area was still safe, for the time being.
 
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“Alright, bow it is then.” She knew that he was right and in a location like this, Rania was probably better off with a long-ranged weapon. It could still be very effective if used right, even in a tight environment like this. “Okay, let's get going then.” She said and headed back out of the door. It was still dark and her seismic sense ability told her that no one had approached.

The area was still safe, for the time being.

“Alright then, stay behind me.” He said as he drew one of his swords, which was revealed to be narrow and straight with a sudden point for thrusting. He walked forward calmly, and silently, listening for anyone who came their way.

They came to a large room which contained five men, all armed and armored with mail hauberks, chain coifs capped with steel helmet-caps and carrying swords and buckler shields. Somewhat uniform though not totally, these weren’t common mercenaries.

They weren’t spotted yet, so Sung gestured for her to shoot at the two off to one side while he engaged the remaining three.
 
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Rania hushed behind Sung Chei without complaint and watched with curious eyes when the man drew his sword. Its shape was interesting and very obviously not from these lands. He looked to be the type to hail from somewhere far away, and she wondered what his reasons were for wandering about so far from home.

The thief readed her bow and snuck after her companion until they came across a room containing five heavily armed men. Their gear made her suck in a sharp breath and she blinked a few times in confusion. This was a lot even for an illegal slave trade.

Geez, were they expecting the king’s guard to march in here? With how armed they were, they might as well have been. Sung Chei gave her a sign and she responded with a nod. Rania was quick with the bow, her aim was excellent, especially in smaller spaces, and all of her remaining arrows had been dipped into poison prior to coming here.

The woman readied her weapon, aimed and quickly shot at the two men Sung Chei had gestured at – both arrows pierced through their necks, one after another, and they fell lifelessly to the ground.
 
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Sung was swift to attack the three others in the room, and they had seen their friends fall after the first arrow had struck. One man was stabbed in the chest, the narrow blade forcing its way through the rings of the first man’s hauberk, and the second severed his head. The next man was gutted, then his throat was pierced, and the third man managed to draw his sword and swipe at Sung.

He released hi she sword hilt and struck the man’s throat with his hand before cutting his head off. Then he retrieved his second sword. And he looked towards to the door that lead down. He then gazed back at his companion, “You ready to continue?”