Private Tales Let's Get Outta Here Red

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer

Kala

The Other Gutter Rat
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Kala crouched in what had to be the smallest alcove in all of Vel Anir. She was cloaked within a shadow her fingers tightly holding what appeared to be a simple white card.

She had been here for what seemed like most of the night, though for all she knew it had only really been an hour. Waiting was something that every Thief had to learn to be good at, and she was no exception. One time she had spent three days lurking outside the wall of a Castle before entering simply to ensure that the correct guards were on rotation.

This situation was no different.

The Tiefling had spent practically months watching, waiting, and observing things throughout the city. She'd used her contacts in the Underworld and even some among the nobility to learn what had brought her here.

It hadn't exactly been easy, though she was more than pleased with herself as she continued to stare down into the alleyway.

Kala knew that eventually Kasimir would be walking by. She knew that he had been out on a mission and that he would be returning soon, and she knew that this was the path that he most often took to return to wherever Vel Anir held their slaves.

All she could hope for was that he suddenly hadn't decided to change this habit.

That would ruin the entire plan.
 
The black dog prowled ahead of him through the corridors as he lightly ran his blade along the walls. A shallow groove cut into the wall but it was the noise he was going for. The fear it would cause. It was very rare Kasimir was given an assignment that the handlers ordered him to make a scene at - there were better Forsaken for the showy deaths. Kasimir was an agent of stealth, the one sent in when a job needed to be easily covered up. The rarity of being the creature of darkness meant he was actually enjoying this job. The dog gave a low growl that grew and grew. He tilted his head to the side as he picked up what his mutt had before him - the soft sound of scared breaths.

The black beast lowered his nose to the small slit beneath the door and the floor, behind which his target was no doubt curled up. Scared. He could taste it. He wouldn't allow himself to enjoy that though; that was a slippery slope down to enjoying killing and Kasimir valued enough of his soul, enough of the person he was carving out for himself in private moments with Nat and Rumer, that he didn't want to taint that being too.

A small whimper came from behind the door and Kasimir banished the dog to pull it open himself. There, curled up at the bottom was a woman. Her leg was already torn and bloody from where his dog had managed to grab her and pull her from her bed. Then he had let her run, let her have a little bit of hope.

"You are the devil," she whispered, eyes round with fear. Kasimir knelt as the blade appeared in his hand and she flinched as he cupped her cheek almost tenderly.

"Even the devil was an angel once."

He had meandered over the city once the job was done - letting himself appear here and there to plant blame of the womans death on another - before his feet had taken him back to the familiar path that would lead him back beneath the city. To his home. He sighed as he got closer and stretched his arms up over his head, clasping his hands behind his neck then in a relaxed manner. As his thoughts often did at these times they wandered to other things. To other faces.
 
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Every muscle in her body tensed as she noticed the shadow moving through the alleyway, her fingers tightening on the card in her hand.

Pale yellow eyes cut through the darkness of the night, catching sight of red skin and slightly curled horns. A breath caught in her chest and slowly she drew herself up within the darkness. More planning had gone into this than her last three jobs.

It was the first time in memory that she had actually worked for the benefit of someone else. The first time she'd actually made an effort and tried to help another person.

If she was a more introspective person Kala might have taken the time to reflect on that fact, but instead she stared down into the alleyway and waited for Kasimir to hit the perfect mark. Lips thinned, and then she suddenly jumped forward.

On Kasimir's left there was a bare flash, and then something familiar. The bricks of the wall began to warp and fall into themselves an odd doorway to nothing suddenly appearing within the wall itself. The sound of it was meant to catch attention, stone clattering against stone.

Then to Kasimir's right came Kala.

She swung down, her leg already extended as she kicked Kasimir hard with all her momentum. The intention being to simply throw him into the portal. "Hey Red!"

The Tiefling called out as she slammed into him.
 
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The Forsaken were highly trained assassins so when an uneasy feeling began to creep up his spine he began to slow his walk and let the shadow blade fall into his palm again. So when the sounds of bricks scraping against one another reached him he was prepared for something to come out of it and approached with caution. It could very well be some Dreadlord in which case he didn't want to get in the way and suffer their wrath, but it could equally be a rogue mage. If that were the case he would be expected to get rid of the threat quickly.

He was so focused on the door and the threat coming from it that he hadn't even considered it was an ambush against him. Who would care enough about a Forsaken to even come up with such a scheme? He was nothing, lower than the lowest human here.

"Blu-" Kasimir grunted as her feet hit him squarely in the chest followed by the rest of her body. It was enough force to throw him entirely off his feet and he went backwards through the doorway with a yell.
 
Kala smirked wide as she pulled herself up from the ground just in time to see Kasimir fall through the doorway.

The Tiefling skipped for just a brief second, looking down the alleyway just in time to see two Anirian Guardsmen standing there. Through the night she could see the shock on their faces, both of them reaching for their swords.

"Stop right the-"​

"No can do boys!" Kala shouted with a gleeful laugh as she took three skipping steps forward and plunged through the open doorway. As soon as she passed through the bricks began to fall back into place, closing the gate.

Kasimir, and seconds later, would then fall into the reality that was the Paths.

This was Kala's greatest secret. It was how she had pulled off many of her heists and escaped death a hundred times. The Paths were not as simple as their name would suggest. It was a world in it of itself, a place of absolutely nothing but winding translucent roads and hundreds upon hundreds of doors.

Kasimir would find himself there, fallen on a half opaque walkway just above an abyss of absolutely nothingness, and although Kala passed through the gate only a second later it took a full two minutes before she too stepped into the same place.
 
He landed hard against the ground with a groan. His vision swam and his lungs burned as the air was knocked violently from them. It too a few moments for him to try and roll himself onto his side and cast his eyes around his surroundings. This place was similar and yet not to his shadow realm. Gingerly he put his hands under him and attempted to push himself to his feet with a wince. What was she doing here? His mind raced through the possibilities. Clearly it wasn't just to talk; assaulting wasn't conjunctive to that. Had she figured out a way to remove the rune?

The thought sent a sharp pain from his neck down his back and he cursed as he rode it out. There was no way he would be able to go wherever she wanted him to. He was due to be back from the mission soon; he had already pushed his limits with his wander about town to soak up the night. By the time she had come through the portal he was still sat, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Not that I don't like it when women throw themselves at me, Blue, but..."
 
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She was weary of what was going to happen once he knew what she was trying to do, weary of what the Mark would actually do to him.

Kala knew that this had to be...worked around. The only way that she could actually pull this off was if everything right. Kara had told her as much when she'd gotten the brand. Lips thinned for a second, and she looked at Kasimir. "I need you to trust me."

She said simply.

"This place...isn't normal." Kala explained. "Your brand shouldn't bother you here."

Not in the same way that it did anywhere else. She didn't have...confirmation of that, but she was pretty sure. Time worked differently in the paths, and she'd figured out from their last meeting that certain parts of his mark were time dependent.
 
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The look he levelled at her clearly showed he didn't believe her for a second. The mark was something all Forsaken feared - in fact it was the only thing they feared. That and of course the masters who had put it there. He said nothing though; to talk about the mark was just as dangerous as trying to escape it. Instead he slowly pushed himself to his feet and brushed himself down and checked the shadowy tattoos were all where they should be. If the creatures he had made deals with were left behind and not returned to his body and their vessel he could lose them and that was something he was loathe to do.

"Trust is not something that comes naturally," he said slowly, tail swishing in annoyance behind him. He cast another look around at 'this place' he had found himself in. "Where are we then?" where we this place that would apparently protect him from such an in depth magic? Then he shook his head and held up a hand to stop her before she said anything. If they caught him and tried to find out this information it would be easier to resist the torture if he genuinely did not know their answers.

"I need to go back," he pressed his lips into a thin line. "I am expected back soon."
 
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"Right well..." Kala sort of trailed off for a moment as she looked around the Paths. Her lips thinned, and she briefly took a step back. She wasn't entirely sure how he would react to all of this, especially given what she knew of the mark. "Soon is rather relative."

She said to him simply.

"This is...The Paths." Kala wasn't entirely proud of the name. She had first come up with it when she was but a small child. Somehow it had stuck, and she wasn't about to change it now.

"Things work differently here." She told him. "Including time."

Kala had never been sure why.

"Sometimes a year in here could be a week in the real world..." She trailed off. "And other times a minute could be a month there..."

The tiefling braced for a reaction.
 
Kasimir went to stop her from talking further about the realm they were in but he shut his mouth. A name wouldn't be too troublesome. He still didn't know much about this place apart from now... the problem of time. Despite his red skin the colour seemed to drain from his face as she spoke turning him to a washed out shade of pink. A month? He could be gone for a month? His hand flinched to the back of his neck; it was like a ticking time bomb in that case. If he was missing for that long they would detonate the switch. These could be the last few seconds of his life.

He felt an unusual sense of calm overcome him. If this was how his life was going to end then there were always worse ways, he thought quietly. Of course he knew not how painful the death would be from the Rune itself. Immensely he had to assume considering the burning pain that came upon him when he denied a small command for any amount of time.

"You have condemned me to death."
 
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"No." She countered immediately, and quite sternly.

It was almost as though she were admonishing him for even thinking something of the sort. Kala had given thought to this plan, more than she'd given for half of her robberies. She would not be accused of making up some half-baked scheme.

"I have done exactly what I have promised." Kala said vaguely. "I need you to trust me."

Her voice was stern, as were her features.

She did not want to reveal too much. There was no telling what was programmed into the Rune, and she was doing her best in walking around it.

Trust probably didn't come easy to someone like him, but Kala didn't have any other answers.
 
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He looked at her with almost... pity. She couldn't possibly understand the depths of what she was playing with here even if she had found a way to break the Rune on the back of his neck. He seemed to consider the situation for a little longer before suddenly and surprisingly giving a short bark of laughter, running his hands down his face. Oh Gods what had she done - no - what was she going to do next? He was a dead man walking, would it really do him much harm to go along with what she wanted now?

"Damned if I do..." he murmured to himself and let his hands drop from where they had been about to run through his hair. This was... the least control he felt he had had on his life in a twist of irony. At least in the rigid constrains of the Forsaken he knew what his parameters were, knew what field he had to operate in. Now?

"If you want to test something I advice you hurry, I do not know how long this mark will go before they kill me."
 
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Excellent. At the very least he wouldn't try to fight her. She was pretty certain that as long as they remained within the Paths the Rune on his neck wouldn't do anything, if only because magic here tended to...not work very well at all.

Again Kala had absolutely no idea why, but she was no scholar. Perhaps eventually she'd allow Kara or another academic to step in here, but for now she would simply use it to save Kasimir. "This way."

She said as she slid passed Kasimir on the opaque walkway.

"The door we need is up there." The Tiefling pointed above their heads, quickly turning and walking on an impossibly curved road upward.
 
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Kasimir felt almost giddy - hysterical even. He followed after her in a daze not quite knowing where they were going or why exactly she was there. She owed him nothing. She barely even knew him. Yet now she was risking her life trying to remove a Rune that could very well kill him if they attempted this spell. Whatever spell it was she had thought she had found. He wondered wearily whether it was going to hurt when he died. His mind then drifted to Nat and Rumer; would they miss him when he didn't come back? Even worse - would they be the ones sent after him when he didn't return?

He ran a hand through his hair again and glanced around their surroundings. How much time was passing beyond this world?
 
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Kala walked along the path with careful steps. She had never even been close to falling off, but the idea unsettled her so much that even now after years of using this place she was still as careful as could be.

The Tiefling had no desire to learn what was within that abyss.

Eventually, after the bridge began to quite literally twist in on itself Kala lead Kasimir to another doorway just like the one that they stepped through. For a moment she stood before it, running her hand over the edge before slowly nodding to herself.

"Right." She began slowly. "Remember how I mentioned 'trust' before?"

From her satchel Kala pulled out a length of silk.
 
Kasimir followed in her footsteps with his hands in his pockets. As always he looked relaxed though those that knew him might have noted there was a tenser set to his shoulders right now and his gaze was a lot sharper as he looked at where they were going. This might be the last nice he saw before he died, what an odd thought. Maybe he would fall right off this bridge and fall down into the darkness. What would happen to the shadows if they were caught in here too - would they be trapped forever or would they find their way out to another host?

So many thoughts running through his mind in that detached manner of a man in shock.

They slowed as they came to another door and Kas watched Kala intently - this would be when he found out how much time had passed. Maybe she was right and the magic wouldn't affect him here but when he stepped outside it would hit him all in one. His eyes then went to the silk and his gaze became wary.

"I'm not really into the whole bondage thing, Blue..."
 
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She frowned. "No...I mean you're fine looking, but I have a rule about other Tieflings. Tails always end up wandering where they don't belong."

A small smile touched her lips for just a brief moment, but it was quickly suppressed as she went back to the topic at hand.

"Look. I know what I'm doing." That wasn't exactly true, but she had done her best to plan all of this in such a way that it would hopefully work. "I have one shot. That shot helps if this is over your eyes."

The way she figured it, the Rune would likely force Kasimir to defend himself if he actually saw her trying to remove it. However if he couldn't see her and he didn't understand what was going on or what exactly she was doing, then the Rune wouldn't know to make Kasimir defend himself.

She had no doubt that whomever had designed the Rune was a genius, but even Rune Magic could only do so much. The damned thing wasn't intelligent, it just responded to certain parameters and input.
 
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Kasimirs expression screamed crippling doubt when she claimed to know what she was doing.

His eyes shifted from her to the silk and then back to her slowly as his mind went through all the possible ways that this could go terribly wrong. He wanted to ask questions but it was better if he didn't know so that the Rune didn't try and defend itself. The silence stretched until it seemed as though he would back out of this all together and ask to be taken back to Vel Anir but then he broke it with a sigh.

"You should bind my hands too, I do not know what will happen," he held out his wrists in front of him and knelt with his head bowed.
 
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Kala couldn't help but smile as she showed him what was in her other hand.

"I had planned on it." She told him, revealing a set of finely crafted steel manacles. Kala had left those for second just in case he showed a...discontent with the blindfold. She'd figured he didn't exactly have the best history with that sort of thing, but since he volunteered…

Knowing that time was a factor Kala quickly moved to restrain Kasimir. Both of his hands were quickly grasped and pulled behind his back, wrists cuffed before she silently unfurled the silk. "Deep breaths, Red."

She told him as the silk was folded over his eyes.

A second later he would feel a hand on his shoulder. Fingers gave him a reassuring squeeze. "Were going to step through together, and then I need you to hold still. Whatever pain you feel, whatever agony they put you through...try not to move too much."

Kara had said that was important.
 
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The manacles were uncomfortable but they fit into scars that had healed long ago. He tried to push the memories to the back of his mind but when she stepped behind him and then took away his sight too his breathing hitched a little bit. The memories of days and weeks hanging from the ceiling, his hands bound and blood running down his chest from the gaping wounds came flooding back to him. They had wanted to see how long he could last under interrogation.

Her words made their way through the haze of pain and fear and he flinched slightly when she touched him in such a gentle way. It was not something he was used to receiving. He stood slowly trying to get his bearings now he was deprived of high sight and his balance was slightly different due to the bound hands.

"I am not a stranger to pain," Kas responded drily and then took a breath and stepped through the door.
 
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This doorway lead to a clearing, one that was actually located not too far from Vel Anir itself. She had set it up to be ready for when she arrived, and by the looks of it everything had remained mostly in place.

With just a little bit of luck Kala could immediately tell that they had only been inside the Paths for two or three days. The card she had placed in the center of the clearing surrounded by rocks was still there, as was the brand and knife she had laid out.

Nothing was covered with dirt or swept away.

A sense of relief filled her, but as soon as they stepped out of the doorway fully it began to close behind them. "Don't move."

Kala reminded Kasimir as she broke into a sprint and rushed towards the center of the clearing. A flame erupted from the playing card there, and Kala immediately threw the brand into it. The heat was intense, but it would still take a few seconds to reach the proper temperature.
 
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As soon as the wind hit his face the Rune flared up with a searing pain. He stumbled from the shock of it. He had of course tested the boundaries of the Rune before to see how many days he could go before he needed to return. However this mission had been in Vel Anir itself; there hadn't been a need for travel time and thus he had not been given lenience. His knee hit the ground and a low growl came through clenched teeth. His words might have been funny if he wasn't focusing on going to that small corner of his mind he had created to escape the pains of his physical body.

"If you could hurry up Blue,, would be appreciated," he managed to bite the words out.
 
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She was hurrying, or at least trying to. Her eyes cast on the flames eagerly, toe tapping quickly as she watched the metal heat up more and more.

Fingers gently pressed against her knee, and slowly the steel went from it's cool silver to red hot. Three minutes was what she had timed it had, and just as that mark hit she motioned to Kasimir. "Kneel."

Her word was hurried, and fingers gently scooped up the knife next to the fire pit.

The blade bit into the palm of her left hand and she let out a quiet whimper. Kala had never really much liked pain, and a cut as large as that was not pleasant for her. The knife was dropped and she grabbed the brand, stepping over towards Kasimir.
 
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Considering he already had one knee on the ground it was easy enough to sink fully to the ground with his head bowed a little. Behind the blindfold he closed his eyes tight and focused not on the sounds she and whatever magics she was wielding made, but instead on breathing. He was trying not to think about what she was about to do though it was hard not to. It was like the Rune itself knew in some deeper level, or perhaps it was his paranoia. Either way as she stepped closer and closer it began to glow white hot and this time he uttered a curse. His tail began to snap back and forth furiously until the grass began to get slowly churned up.
 
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Kala rushed over to stand behind Kasimir, a trail of blood droplets dripping from her free hand.

Her steps fell into place, and she looked down at where the rune was located on his neck. Fingers tightened around the red hot brand, and she frowned for a brief moment as she gave a prayer to The Myojin, God of Thieves.

"Sorry about this." Kala said as she suddenly kicked Kasimir in the back and sent him fully to the ground. Then she pounced on him turned the brand in her hand and slammed it down directly onto the Rune at his neck.

There was a loud hissing as flesh bubbled and burned.

She held it just long enough for the new Rune to form, and then threw the brand away just to slap the mark with her bloody hand a second later to activate it's magic.