Private Tales The Listening

[ylva]

Bright hues of amber and violet streaked across the sky as they wove their own tales over the city of Alliria. The cacophony of noises that the daytime often brought, began to quieten down. Most people began to drift into their homes, places of comfort, or the nearest tavern. The latter was what Ylva did. Slinking through the shadows, and ducking around those in a hurry to get back to their loved ones, she managed to snag a stool at the counter of the Red Duck Inn.

The inn itself was a sight to see, warm hues of rich ruby and ebony drapery hung from rafters, and tickled patron's heads before acting as separators for the booths at the back of the establishment. If they were full, there could be hushed whispers and laughter if you dared to venture close enough that one of the bodyguards would notice your presence, and promptly ask you to move without an actual single word muttered.

"'Joff!" the woman would eventually exclaim, causing a man of mid-forties with gold hair pushing from his chin, to wander over to the frequent visitor and lean with an elbow as she put forth her order. As she paid, the woman would reach up with both hands and slap what appeared to be more than just a few coins into his hand. If one had a keen eye and was able to watch a poker hand exchange in a dimly lit and crowded room, then they'd also notice she had a bit of parchment to add to her tab. Mere seconds would pass before Joff would pocket the money into his apron and pour the woman a mug of brew that he promptly slapped down onto the counter. It had too much of a head, but at least there was some liquid to be found in the cup. Nestling her drink in her hands, Ylva, with her hood up over her face, turned in the bar stool as she crossed one of her legs over the other and began to study the room. People-watching was pretty high up on her hobbies list, and nothing proved more fruitful than watching two parties make a deal that they thought no one else had heard. This night would not let her down, and soon she was haphazardly listening in to a conversation beside her, whispers and rumors of a unique creature terrorizing a nearby farming community.

( Khai )

 

[Khai]

As the night fell upon the city of Alliria, so did Khai settle in with the shadows. The darkness provided him harbor and a sense of quietude so much that he cherished it like a close friend. In the end, it lived inside him and kept him alive, so best to take advantage of such circumstances rather than dwell upon their meaning.

But above anything else, he hated being in cities. So tight and filled with people, reminding him of Cerak and its hordes of scoundrels and whores, they who made him scrape and crawl through the mud, to be sold into slavery. That place cost him his friends, the only remains of what he used to know as a family, until the very day it killed him.

Khai belonged to the shadows now, and as much as he hated being in places like that, the darkness loved making its nest on the alleys and crevices of the packed buildings and lively squares. The day-to-day commotions were starting to settle down by the time he crossed the city's threshold, going unnoticed past the guards as usual. A proper assassin always loved taking the unnecessary risks that made his work flashier, and that was Khai. He loved the thrill of slipping past all those people going through the gates, just mindful of their own businesses without a care for the others around them.

He hoped the Shadows would enlighten them one day, like they did with him. But he couldn't dissuade them from such frivolous and selfish paths. Not yet anyway.

Alas, his own path took him somewhere far from those gates. Across the rooftops, he made his way through the darkening city, the birds flying only slightly above him his only company in that lone journey. The Masters had sent him to a much stranger task than usual - to assassinate a monster.

At first, Khai thought that the Masters were planning an expansion, going from slitting warlords and mercenaries' throats to doing a monster slayer's job of hunting and killing the beasts that prowled about. His naive mind had been worked to only think so much, but he eventually grasped their agenda.

Not long after his thoughts came to conclusion on the matter, Khai stopped close to his goal. His dark figure hovering above as his blue eyes gazed upon the crowded and lit place below. He had no knowledge of the creature's whereabouts, but most certainly the tavern had, its ears filled with information over drinks and dirty lips.

All Khai had to do now was wait for the opportunity to present itself.

 

[ylva]

Khai would be right to linger in the shadows, to let the darkness overwhelm his figure, and sit in wait for the monster to come crawling from the tavern because eventually, that's where it would emerge from.

Ylva was engrossed in the distant conversation, eyes searching over the lip of her mug of mead around the room as she took in every figure, shadow and reflection that her brightly hued gaze could capture. That's when she noticed something odd. The group who had been discussing a monster had seemed to have reached the ears of a solo person nearby. He was a tall man, gruff but by no means broad, wearing basic cotton and leathers that resembled something a farmer would wear during his workdays. Bright blonde hair was cropped to just under his ears, and his eyes shone a bright pale blue, they themselves peeking from an average bone structure and sun damage. This man began to twitch, it first started in his fingers, but worked it's way up to his elbows and eventually into his shoulders, as he kept turning to look over his shoulder at the group talking about the creature that only existed in the night.

Taking another sip from her drink and pulling her hood down further over her eyes, Ylva would continue to not so subtly watch the happenings, for the moment she was waiting for was just around the corner. A minute would pass before the farmer would stand abruptly and twitch even harder. His head would go side to side as eyes widened before the color completely seeped into his whites and hid them completely. And at that point, he appeared to break his own threshold and darted for the exit of the tavern. The elven woman would not wait for a second to pass, as she placed her mug down and flung herself from the stool to begin chasing down the man who was clearly one of the monsters, if not the monster the outskirts of Alliria had been gossiping about. It certainly wasn't her duty, nor asked of her to do this, but she loved the chase. Probably playing the heroine too. Her feet pounded the pavement as she continued to lurch after the creature in human skin, as he began to grow larger and larger in height. For now, both of them were skirting alleyways and avoiding the few souls that were foolish enough to walk down them this late at night.

 

[Khai]

Khai reaped the rewards for his patience and watchfulness, as he sensed through the shadows the commotion beginning to brew inside that inn. Too many whispers and emotions flowing about, eventually leading to the door being busted open as a man bolted from it, his speed far beyond the abilities of a common human. A monster in disguise, then? Maybe that hunt could indeed be filled with excitement for the young assassin, whose cold and sharp eyes now watched calmly as the man lost himself to the dark alleys, as if trying to avoid bumping into someone. For fear of capture, or that he could simply rip any poor and unaware citizen to shreds if he so desired.

Behind his dark mask, the assassin opened a slight smile as he contemplated from above the mazing run of that man, before caughting sight of another person, a woman, following close to heel. She was fast as well, and moved with a purpose meant for someone who knew exactly what kind of mess she was getting into. Taking the chase as his cue, Khai decided to join the fray as well, only chasing them from the rooftops, breezing about them with ease, his agile body flying about like a soaring feather.

He watched as the running man started to grow in size, feeling his every bone break under while his flesh grew to acommodate the changes, as well as his ever growing, impressive speed. But so too did he, as Khai reached forward and jumped from one of the roofs, his dark figure eclipsing the moon before a few shurikens and daggers slipped to his fingers. Infusing them with his dark energy, Khai threw the weapons masterfully towards the newly discovered monster, the blades completely covered in dark fog, shrouded against the very moonlight. Eventually, some reached their intended destination, a few with a slight margin of error due to the man's speed as they fell to the ground, but others managed to pierce his back and shoulders, forcing painful growls from him.

Khai, who had now vanished from the skies, was unveiled from the dark gutters, his hand already reaching for the Cassaegrin, the katana sheathed on his back, as he waited for the monster's reaction, and the arrival of the woman who was giving chase.

 

[ylva]

The woman's footsteps thudded heavily on the cobblestone pathway that haphazardly laid itself between buildings. Doors were flung open as people began to exit buildings, just as normal people who had finished eating at the tavern would do, causing both Ylva and the monster to dart side to side, and tumble past gasping citizens that barely grasped the visage of the creature exploding from his own skin.

Unaware of the man on the rooftops, she continued after the man, only coming to duck and slow a little as she noted the first throwing star that lodged itself into the back of the man... who was rather, a shell of humanity as his flesh began to shift from a pale pink to a dark, rich black-brown. His eyes lit up, bursting into a bright red as his limbs continued to grow like tree branches, twisting and crunching as the once farmer boy attempted to keep pace. There was a garbled growl as more metal embedded itself within him, causing the chaser to duck and look around and up for the assailant. Clearly, she wasn't the only one on the tail of this thing.

Slowing herself down enough to sweep up one of the aforementioned weapons, Ylva would situate it between her fingers before picking up the pace again. This time, she got within reach of the creature and was able to throw her weight forward with arms wide in an attempt to bring it to the ground with her. Unfortunately, at best, she was only able to loop her arms loosely around his knees and caused the target to stumble forwards but not yet fall. Mere seconds would pass before the elven woman would push herself up again and push her hood and braided hair from her face. The man who waited in the shadows was noticed, however, and she'd end up giving him a second look with widened eyes. He definitely was a man with a purpose, but where did he come from?

 

[Khai]

Khai watched on as the creature, now undoing his human shell from before, continued to mutate and grow as its mind was gripped by insanity and uncontrollable anger, his bright red eyes bearing evidence of his madness. His growls, filled with pain and fury, echoed through the dark alleys as they stared each other down. Khai only noticed the arrival of the woman a few moments later, after her attempt of bringing down the monster, only making it angrier.

She looked to Aldren with confusion, surely puzzled as to how he got there. No doubt answers that would be provided later, given the monster didn't tear them apart first, as it seized the first opportunity to leave the woman behind and pounce towards Khai, but finding the emptiness of the air and the dark fog the assassin left behind, reappearing a few paces from the woman, his katana in hand as the dark energies started to flow from the blade, like shadows dripping from it.

Khai took his usual fighting stance as he put two fingers ahead of his face, waiting for the monster to stop his waves of seizure as his bones continued to break and his limbs growing in malformed ways. As his red eyes fell upon Khai and the woman again, more blades slipped to Khai's fingers from nothingness, before he threw them against the monster once again, who effortlessly blocked them, showing his might in doing so.

To fight a creature such as that required even more technique and finesse than usual, as well as lengthy analysis and patience, to study its patterns and learn its behaviour before going for a direct strike. And Khai wasn't a fighter, which meant going toe to toe with that sizeable aberration could mean his early demise back to the Shadow Pools. A place he dreaded to even think about.

Waiting for the woman to show her own tricks so that they could tag against that thing, Khai gripped the handle of his katana with both hands, eyes forever trained on the creature as it prepared for the next attack.

 

[ylva]

Ylva, clearly off her game, felt the sting to her pride as she managed to situate herself, pacing around so that there would be a person either side of the creature. Regardless of where the other ended up, her bright purple gaze would flicker down to his weapon, to drink it in a moment. Magic wasn't something new to the woman, but she was yet to manipulate what appeared to be black fog or shadows. Tipping her head to the side, the monster grew restless. It didn't appear to want to maul anyone, for it did not make a strike yet but instead roared in the face of the elven woman. Whatever it desired, was ignored, for its figure was enough to cause the firing of more throwing stars towards his body.

"Stop!" she called out, reaching both hands forward before thrusting them down to her side. A spectral light began to extend from her palms. It was a cool blue-white in shade, first starting in a cone shape before eventually exploding outwards and around her fists in a ball. However, it appeared too late for her call, the agitation from the wounds causing it to turn around and lurch for the one responsible for causing it harm.

It's gangly long arms, like tree branches, came swinging heavily for Khai's head as Ylva lunged and attempted to grasp its waist and pull it backward. Her fists were still alight with spectral magic, and once her grab was unsuccessful again, she'd simply pull back and bring her hands together, before pushing them forward again. In layman's, the woman was attempting to silence the beast and put it to sleep. But it appeared that all her spell would do, is cause the creature to crackle and light up like lightning before growing more agitated and turning once more towards her for another swing of its limbs...

 

[Khai]

Khai's eyes widened as he saw the blow coming straight at him, shocked and out of balance to try and evade it as the monster tried to rip his head clean off, saved by a few inches thanks to the woman's intervention, giving him enough time to reset his stance and fall backwards in a short roll, the dust from the street rising up, hovering about as Khai watched her go toe to toe with the malformed monster, trying to strangle him into submission. For a moment, he thought her magical tricks would break through and they could finally subdue and kill the creature, but with a new set of growls, the monster lit up heavily, his limbs growing once again and swinging wildly as the woman was tossed from him.

The assassin rushed forward, mustering all the speed he could on his feet so that he soared through, almost in a blink, his empowered katana blocking the creature's attack as it lunged straight at the woman. Khai moaned, his strength being easily overpowered by the monster due to his size and weight, but not before he managed to skillfuly weave himself out of his clutches with a quick but deep cut to one of his limbs. As the blood poured out, the monster cried in pain, his eyes turning to a shade of black before it returned to its normal red.

As Khai prepared himself for another attack, putting himself in front of the woman while she recovered, the thing merely stared them down before turning tail and fleeing to the dark alleys with an even greater speed than before, surprising even Khai as the young man's eyes failed to meet the running target.

He let out a short but frustrated growl as he took a few steps forward, finding only the creature's blood staining the ground as clue. The dark liquid was boiling, its hotness being felt from far away before it started to dissipate. Tracking that monster down would be no small feat now, as questions about what exactly they had just faced seemed to pop all over his mind.

The magic taking over Cassaegrin's blade also started to vanish as Khai sheathed it on his back, turning to face the woman.

"You all right?", his blue eyes stared at her while his sharp voice sounded on, a bit muffed due to the mask shrouding his face along with the hood covering his head, concealing his mysterious identity from the puzzled woman that had bravely saved him.

 

[ylva]

Ylva was not content in letting things happen without her say-so, and when Khai lurched for the creature to cause damage, it, in turn, decided to throw her off itself. Landing into a tumble that caused her shoulder to land first, the woman would somersault to place herself on all fours. The monster, turning to come after her, was abruptly stopped by a blade. Pushing on her hands, the woman quickly rose to the occasion in time to watch Khai slice through its blackened flesh with ease. But then, it turned on its heel and ran off. Where was it going? Looking down to the ground, she'd quickly pinch at the magical purse on her side and withdraw a white handkerchief. This, she'd dip into the remnants of the black ooze before it dissipated and watched for a reaction.

The cloth did not burn, but there were a bunch of small hisses and smoke rising from the cloth before the 'blood' did indeed disappear from it. Cursing silently under her breath, she'd stand to her full height once more and look at the man who was staring at and questioning her. "I'm fine," she told him, gesturing the way the creature left with an open hand, she'd then place it on her hip and demand an answer. "Why did you do that for!? It was human to begin with, what if it is a human just cursed? He might have a family, loved ones..." turning on her heels, she'd squint her eyes and look down the alleyway.

 

[Khai]

Curious, Khai watched as the woman regained her composure and quickly set out to try and gather some of the creature's blood, probably to track it down later. It was quick thinking, but sadly no more quicker than the creature's own defense in the way of boiling the blood trails. Whatever that monster was, it was not only incredibly strong and fast, but also carrying some very unique tricks under his horrid and malformed limbs.

The woman seemed to turn her attention to the young assassin after gruntling, disappointed that the monster's blood had up and vanished like him, leaving only marks upon the piece of cloth she had on her hands. Clearly infuriated by Khai's resolve to kill it before even knowing who or what that thing was, the woman confronted him. His eyes widened for a moment, fairly surprised at her outburst, considering that monster was a few inches away from cutting her to pieces.

Khai couldn't help but let out a small and rather muffed laugh underneath his mask. Growing up where he did, and having being trained as an assassin despite being so young, Khai couldn't grasp at the thoughts of the exacerbated mercy which took hold of the people. Even in the face of such a creature, that woman's first instinct was to try and avoid an unnecessary death?

"Didn't look much human from where i was standing", he playfully remarked, turning to face the woman just as his mask and hood slowly faded away like smoke, revealing himself. Now that they were seemingly chasing the same goal, Khai thought best not to appear so intimidating to his new... partner? For the time being at least, for he surely couldn't take on that monster alone.

Motioning his arms open, Khai inquired, seeking whatever wisdom he thought he could gather from the mysterious lady.

"So what's next?"