Fable - Ask Within the Twilight

[Raaji]

Raaji strolled through the streets or so it seemed. Different languages and voices clashed here within the busy streets, creating an incomprehensible murmur that buzzed above the crowd like a swarm of insects. And so different people and colors of clothes intertwined, following two different flows in the one or other direction of the market streets. But Raaji had one perticular person out of hundreds here in view.

And he wondered. Wondered why there weren't any guards with her. Did she wanted to be incognito? Not stand out so much like she would with guards? Raaji bit into a fig as he followed her in quite a distance. He had bought the fruit as he has passed a stall by just taking the fig and flipping a coin to the merchant - he hadn't more time yet while he was following her. Raaji changed sides of the road. The buildings here were high enough to provide a lot of shade, but there were still spots where the sun shone. Especially at midday.

It was actually very much to his advantage that the woman was unguarded. But that didn't helped him much here in the crowd where everyone could see them. Well ... it would neither be easier when she was back at the palace. There were more than enough guards. But he had already found a few less guarded spots, corners he could pass under shelter of the darkness to sneak in. He also already knew approximately where her quarters were.

He observed her for a while now, not just since today but for days now, maybe a week or more. He had to track her down first, making sure she really was the person he was looking for, the person he was send for. And then he had looked for weak points, for opportunities. It had to be well planned and work out. This was no nameless person after all. Raaji felt quite honoured being chosen for this task. He knew he was good but certainly no professional, there were for sure other assassins out there who were better than him who had more experience. Therefore, it was important for him to do this commission well and to proof his worth.

But he did not have endless time. In fact, he was running out of it. It had to be done before she left the city or at least, before she arrived in Salitra, before she could take her throne which she didn't deserved. Raaji sighed and wished she would just turn into a dark, empty street. That would simplify the whole opportunity quite a bit. It was probably not an empty, dark street but she actually indeed turned off somewhere. He had to catch up and to watch out not to lose sight of her. After his last bite, he quickened his steps and snaked through the crowd a little more purposefully.

 

[Nym]

Nym was far more used to being a surreptitious guard herself than having anyone guarding her. Soon, when she returned home as the new ruler of Salitra, she'd never get away from them. For now, thanks to a life living within the shadows, there were still few outside the palaces who knew her face, and so she moved through the streets without recognition. There wasn't much she could do about standing out, however. Though she carried no visible coin and wore no jewellery here (such a thing was simply asking for trouble), she needed no finery or opulence to be obviously wealthy. Her bronze skin was soft and clean, her dark hair shone as it tumbled in lustrous waves about her face, her clothes were of the finest white linen, stitched with gold, and her beauty alone often made people pause and heads turn.

She had been an assassin and she had been the best, and so wandering the streets without armed guard at her heels did not worry her. Nym was never not ready for trouble. Even in her chambers there was always a weapon close at hand, she certainly wasn't naive enough to set foot outside without a few blades.



Her white hood was drawn up in the midday sun, her clothing loose and comfortable to catch the occasional breeze. The market was a vast maze of stalls that lined the busy streets, filling it with the hum of chatter, with bright colours of fabrics, trinkets and pottery and the aromas of perfumes and spices. Nym wasn't shopping today, but she took her time wandering through the streets and bazaars, more to savour the sense of freedom and anonymity whilst she could, before she was named Sultana of Salitra, before her face and name was known far more publicly. She fully expected many of the Salitran people to oppose her rule. The oppressed, in fear of another Soleiman ruler. The powerful men who would no doubt feel insult at a woman ruling over them, especially as young as she was.

She had much on her mind, and so she lost herself in the lawless labyrinth for a while before slipping into a quieter street, pausing in the doorway of a blacksmith with a glance in either direction before she stepped inside, lowering her hood. The smith greeted her, flustered as he was three days ago when she'd last visited, and rushed into the back to retrieve her order. After inspection, Nym beamed and thanked the man before tucking the package into a sack which looped around her shoulder, and stepping back out into the street, lifting her hood back over her dark hair.

 

[Raaji]

Raaji reached the street corner where she had turned just in time to see his target entering a building. He looked for signs that could tell him what the building was for and quickly recognized a sign. He was too far away to read the inscription and his Kaliti wasn't that good anyway, he would probably read it as slow as a kid who still learned how to read, but even an analphabet could clearly understood the symbol on the shield. A ... smith?

Well, he did know about her profession. His client told him, that's what made it difficult. Basically, it was not so surprising that she went to a blacksmith. But if she was here to buy or order weapons, why didn't she just have them sent to her palace rather than picking them up personally? Or did she had another reason for visiting? Well, it actually was secondary. It was just the informant part of him that would like to know but it was not important for his mission.

Raaji folded his arms and leaned against a wall. He could not be seen from the alley the woman had turned into and he himself would have to lean forward a little to be able to see inside. By doing so, he recognized a little boy a few steps away from him at the building beside. His clothes were a little ragged and dirty, his hair tousled and dusty. He held out two small, empty open hands to him, but seemed afraid to come too close. His eyes were wide open and hopeful but he did not speak a word. Oh, damnit. He had a weakness for poor children and this one caught him off guard. Raaji stepped forward and moved down in front of him to come to his eye level and to put a coin into this little hands.

"Here, take good care of it.", he whispered, as he enclosed his hand around those of the boy's, so the coin wasn't visible for anyone else and even the sun wasn't able to reflect the metallic surface not even for a second. The boy nodded and immediately ran away as if he was afraid Raaji might change his mind and take the coin away again. Raaji looked after the boy with a sigh, knowing that this coin wouldn't really help him, maybe only for the moment, for the day. And that's it.

Squatting in front of the alley he could be completly seen and now, of all times, his target has left the forge. Distracted by the boy Raaji recognized it as she was already outside. He was lucky that she went in the other direction instead of back where she came from. But Raaji could not tell if she had seen him, if she had glanced in that direction before she went off in the other. Well ... what a good start.

He stood up and did not follow until she had turned behind the next corner. His eyes wandered up the walls of the houses here, perhaps he should change floors. There were far fewer people on the road here; following her directly would be conspicuous. He would be able to follow her more easily if he jumped over the rooftops without being seen. Practically, the houses here were built close to each other and had flat roofs. He used a wooden grid with plants growing along it to climb onto one of the buildings. The midday sun was blazing, he could be seen pretty good in daylight, but fortunately most people were also indoors to protect themselves from the heat and had their windows closed.

He could feel crystallic structures in her immediate vicinity. He could exclude crystal, it felt different, it felt more like metal so she most likely had weapons with her. That was quite good, because that way he could trace her by sensing it and follow her without seeing her directly and without being seen by her. Every now and then, however, he squinted down to check out the roads and paths. And to find that she actually was now in an alley where he could see no other persons. What a great opportunity.

Raaji wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand - jumping from rooftop to rooftop in the midday heat with a hood up was perhaps not the best idea. He pulled out a throwing blade from hidden pockets. That was just about the right distance for him to aim at. Her clothes looked very loose, would not offer much protection. Raaji aimed for a moment and flung the throwing blade then. It didn't had to hit her fatally, it just had to hit her, as it was laced with a lethal poison.

 

[Nym]

Paranoia could be both a curse and a blessing. The debilitating trait of her father's had been engrained into her, it was bone deep and ever present regardless of how at ease she appeared on the surface. She had spent so much time watching people in the shadows, following targets, sneaking into homes that she was so certain that nothing would ever catch her off guard. Today, she was very nearly wrong.

Had she not turned when she had, the blade might have struck home. Instead it sliced through the side of her hood and missed her throat by little more than an inch, a sharp breath drawn in as her pulse pitched to frantic. She didn't have time to look up, delays like that could cost her, and so she was instantly on the move down a side alley.

Nym was fast and exceptionally light on her feet. She sprang over baskets and barrels, using her surroundings to propel her through the busy little street and onto the next, skidding as she rounded the corner.

The blade had come from above, judging from where it had struck the door to her side. Whomever it was had advantage, of knowing where she was. She didn't have the time to climb, and so she sprinted for the bazaar, the enclosed market that led under the corridors of archways. Her assailant would have to return to ground level if they wished to continue their pursuit..

 

[Raaji]

Raaji's eyes widened. Not because he missed, but how close. It looked from this distance as if he had hit her, he even had sliced her hood, but no blood was spurting and that would definitely have happened if the blade had slit her throat. She did not flinch in fright, did not seemed confused, did not looked around for the cause, did not give him a second to throw the next blade right away, no, she immediately ran off in alarm, as if she was fully aware of what was going on.

Raaji jumped up from his crouched position and sprinted off - he would not give her a second either. Even if his mind paused a little, waiting to see her stumble and fall at any moment, for the poison set in quickly and started with paralysis. But that didn't happened, she still ran after seconds, so he really missed.
He would have picked up his throwing blade, for he did not want to leave any evidence behind, nor did he want anyone uninvolved who tried to pull the blade out of the door to accidentally cut themselves on it and die, but there was just no time for that and he didn't waste a second of his thoughts on it while chasing after his target.

She had not only reacted quickly, but had also promptly chosen a good direction to flee, so he lost sight of her for a moment. Raaji used his sprint to have enough run-up to jump over the next alley and to see where she was running. He just saw which corner she rounded and then he took a hypotenus shortcut across the roof. Now he was close, but this side alley was short, she would probably turn off again somewhere in a moment, it wasn't worth risking another miss, he only had three of those poisoned throwing knifes and one was already lost.
In addition, higher buildings blocked his route. He would find a way, he was agile enough to do so, but it slowed him down too much for someone moving so fast. So he was already forced to change to ground level before he even knew where she was going. But it was perfectly clear to him that she would seek out the crowd and he would have to stop her somehow. He jumped onto some of those enclosed wooden balcony with an audible clatter and from here on much quieter onto stair landing, his hood fell down doing so. He saw where she turned and ran after her, fortunately a slightly longer alley where she could not immediately change direction again.

He needed to stop her, there where already too many people around and he would not let it become more and not let her run on wherever she wanted to go. The somewhat longer alley finally gave him the few seconds more to lift a crystal wall out of the ground before she could reach it. It manifested itself first clinking then crunching like shattered glass that was squashed. It started from the bottom, shot upwards and pressed against the wall of the house on both sides, so that her path was completely blocked from a crystal-clear wall of magical diamond. His blockade was purely magical and would only exist as long as he focused on it and kept it up. It glistened where the sun's rays reached it. Of course, this was noticeable, but there were already people here anyway, who now moved aside, confused by the action. And on the other site the way was blocked by himself. Being much closer now he did not hesitate to hurl the next poisoned throwing knife at her. This time she had the advantage of being alerted to react, but in case she swerved and came his way, he reached for his silver dagger right away.

 

[Nym]

Plumes of dust rose up as Nym skidded to a halt in front of the crystalline wall that shot up in front of her, cursing under her breath as she pressed her hands against it. She growled as she realised that her path was entirely blocked, and so she turned quickly to face her assailant, just in time to dodge the second blade with thunked against the wall behind her.

Nym's hands were swift as they moved, her own venom-laced throwing draggers slipping into her grip and thrown in three rapid flicks at the figure, and she was already moving quickly toward him armed with twin blades, her movements light and fluid.

The merchants hid behind their stalls and shoppers dispersed, some taking cover, others gathering in small groups to watch and a few calling for the city guards. She didn't recognise the man and he wore nothing that gave his allegiance away, but the Princess was keen to know who was sending assassins after her now..

 

[Raaji]

His target really stopped at the crystal wall and she didn't seem to have some tricks or magical skills to get somehow around it. She really turned around and rushed now towards him. As he saw her coming closer Raaji wasn't sure if this was really the better option than chasing after her. He knew about her skills, his clients had warned him. That's why he actually didn't wanted to get in a direct fight with her. As an assassin, he never wanted to. It was so much easier to kill someone who wasn't even aware of the assault.

But now he was here and she was aware of him and his intend. And cornered, she was now the one to attack. He could see the throwing movement as she lunged out and so Raaji ducked quickly as he manifested a crystal barrier before him. Not straight, but at an angle, so that the blades did not hit it, but rather bounced off and slithered over him. It was always easier to divert attacks instead of blocking completely.

When he stood up again, she had already reached him. And out of the uprising movement he parried her first attack. Maybe he didn't wanted to kill her this way, but he was also well trained to fight, in case a confrontation was unavoidable. So he could keep up with her as further, rapid strikes followed, which he dodged, blocked or parried when possible.

Metal clanged loudly in the alley whenever their similar weapons met. Raaji also fought with two daggers. He soon realised that she was pretty nimble and also a little faster than him, so that he got a cut here and there, but she was less forcefully than him, so that she seemed to have more trouble blocking his hits. But overall they were quite equal. As she came once too close, Raaji jumped backwards and created a barrier between them, allowing him to take a short breath.

"Over here!", a voice behind shouted across the street. Raaji took a short glance to it's source and could see a person pointing towards them and some city guards besides who moved into their direction. Oh, damn. Someone called the guards. Raaji had to change his plans. He quickly turned around and trapped his target within crystal walls. They wouldn't keep for too long, he could only keep the crystal up in a certain radius and the further away he was, the weaker the construct. But it was enough to get a head start as he leaped past her and around the next corner - it was somewhat strange to be now the one running away. But there was no chance that he could manage this while guards were around. He would seek higher ground again, where the guards in their armour could not follow so easily and he didn't saw a reason, why she should do so, so he figured he had a good chance of escaping.