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Anaxas' main trade port; it is also the nation's criminal headquarters, home to the Bad Brothers and Silas Hawke, King of the Underworld. The small town of Plugit is nearby.

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Raksha
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Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:09 am

10th Hamis, 2719
KINGS COURT| EVENING
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It was muggy, humid and warm in the Rose this fine Hamis evening, the scents of the city thick on the air with hints of unwashed bodies and old fish. The backdrop to it all, the great Tinca Basta, lapped at the sandy coast like a needful lover whispering sweet nothings. It was quiet tonight in the streets, far too cloying to do anything more than stay inside and drink or gamble. Occasionally the sounds of a crowd shouting in delight or booing in displeasure would carry on the breeze, either from the Rose Arena or the Mad Queen. It was everything the brochures said it would be.

As light drizzle began to fall, three figures approached the district of Kings Court, their faces covered with hoods that could have served to keep the rain away. Slowing to a stop before reaching the line of sight of the Bad Brothers that hung around the proverbial entrance of the district, one of the figures directed her companions to follow her into the darkness between buildings.

“Alright. There it is. Jon said that we’d practically be able to walk in after the distraction he and Ceres are going to create. I’m not sure I’m comfortable just wandering through the front doors regardless. So, we need a plan.” Alyssa Pierre said quietly, pulling her hood back and throwing her cloak aside. Underneath, she wore a revealing mauve gown that dipped down dramatically at the front. Her black hair was smoothed in gentle large curls around her face, and her intense blue eyes were rimmed with smokey kohl.

“This is Hawke’s domain, and no one gets in here unless they’ve got his invitation, or his cronies invitation.” Reaching for the satchel she’d been wearing under her cloak, The Wisp withdrew a set of knives, lifting her skirt to strap them to her outer thighs with little sense of decorum. In her corseted top, she tucked away other various sharp things and mysterious vials. Smoothing her skirts, the assassin looked at Ava and Aodh, handing the brunette merchant a folded slip of paper to keep hold of.

“You two are going to do some acting, and for these poor bastards sakes I hope you’re good. We need to get entrance to the district, so we can get close enough to the Night Blossom that I can get inside. Once in, I’ll come down and let you both in, then its a matter of seeking out this girl. Apparently we shouldn’t miss her, she’s got a scar across her face from here to here.” Alyssa ran her finger from just above her right nostril and down towards her earlobe, before adjusting her earrings and tucking something else in her hair.

“So, we’re coming down from The Mad Queen, Scarlett’s decree, to check on the business and ensure it’s upholding the agreement she and Mister Sutton have in place. A few whores on the Queens business, as it were.” Flicking her eyes to Ava, the assassin nodded once.

“Once we find this girl, that’s where you come in Silk. She needs to come with us, and Jon for reasons I won’t question, wants her unharmed. I hear you’ve got a smooth tongue, could sell water to a drowning man. Well, you’d better sell it to this girl, because if she won’t come of her own accord well…I’m not wasting this trip.” It was a clear threat towards the target, if she didn’t come, she would be taken by force regardless of Jon’s commentary. Alyssa looked at Aodh. The wick was new, fresh blood that Serro had insisted she should take. For muscle he had feebly advised, to which the Wisp had laughed for a good ten minutes, yet she did as she was asked.

“And you Firebrand, you’re our strongman. All you need to do is look scary. If shit goes wrong, well, I hope those fists are good for more than just appearances.” Stretching and cracking her neck, Alyssa gave them one last moment to voice any opinions or concerns, or to abandon the mission, before turning on her heel with a huge sultry grin.

Sauntering directly up to the district entrance, the brunette walked with a swing in her hips and an attitude that screamed ‘I’ve got the power’, to which the Brothers by the entrance responded exactly as she had anticipated.

“Oi! Ent free passage fru ‘ere luv. Find yersalves somewhare else t’ play.” The first gentleman eloquently advised, red mutton chops and overbite really setting the tone of his bullish appearance. His counterpart was a slim fellow with barely a tooth in his head, and slick oily brown hair that appeared as though it would leave a mark if you brushed against it. Alyssa sucked on her teeth, cocking her hip to one side and resting a hand on it.

“Who’s you then, t’be questionin’ th’ Queen’s own handmaiden an’ all? Tch, get a load o’ this lot then Frankie!” She looked at Aodh, gesturing at the men with her thumb and rolling her eyes. Mutton Chops frowned, his beady hazel eyes narrowing.

“What business a couple o’ th’ Queen’s tumbles got in Kings Court then? Piss off ya erses.” He waved a hand dismissively, the other coming to rest on a pistol by his hip. The assassin sighed dramatically, crossing her arms and staring up at the brute with a defiant lift of her chin.

“What th’ fuck do you think we’d be doin’ ye absolute chroveshit bastard? We’re here t’ inspect a premises, on behalf o’ her Royalness. A one, Night Blossom.” The oily gentleman beside her slunk from his leaning place against the fence to come closer, eyeing the trio off.

“Wheth’s your prooth then tumble? You could be any whore oth the thtreet looking to get inthide the Court for your own….pleathure.” He grinned, the lantern lights gleaming off rotten gaping holes where teeth should be, lisping terribly. Alyssa tsked, turning to Silk and holding her hand out.

“Give us th’ letter Scarlett gave y’luv.”

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Aodh Elzo
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Fri Aug 30, 2019 11:10 am

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10th Hamis. Kings Court, Old Rose Harbour. Evening
Aodh took in their surroundings, Old Rose Harbour in the wet season, not his first choice for a holiday.
Thankfully this was business, proper Resistance business at that, and saving someone as well, he grinned to himself.

As Alyssa outlined the plan and armoured herself Aodh stretched his arms, rolled his neck and shoulders make sure he was ready. He opened and closed his fists a couple of times then he slipped the brass knuckles from his overcoat pocket and put them on his right hand and tucked it into his trouser pocket nonchalantly, he was ready.

Aodh raised an eyebrow at ‘Strongman’ and shrugged, he didn’t have the look of your typical bruiser, but he’d been underestimated before, to his foes detriment.
He nodded and gave a slight crooked grin, by his reckoning Alyssa was plenty dangerous herself, still they had their roles to play.

Walking forward with the ready confident stride of a seasoned street brawler.
Frankie cast an eye over the two guards and gave a derisive snort, unimpressed.
He turned to Alyssa and said in an off hand tone.

"Well, they put the true mung gobshites out front see.""

His eyes moved to take in the two guards, his gaze flat and cold filled with the dark promise of impending violence.

"So when they get ended, messy like for bein' rude to them on Royal business, gives them inside to get ready.""

He took a step forward and locked eyes Mutton Chops.

"An' you touch that barker one more time laoso. An' you'll find yourself more intimately acquainted with it, then I reckon you'd care for. Ye chen?"

Frankie gave him a low key mad dog grin.
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Ava Weaver
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Fri Aug 30, 2019 1:06 pm

Evening, 10th Hamis, 2719
King's Court, The Rose
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T
here was a muggy warmth to the air in the Rose this time of year. It was a strange strangling stickiness, a prickling of warm damp on one’s skin and the promise of rain that came and yet never lessened the humidity. An odd time of year; Ava was surprised to learn she not only remembered it viscerally, but that she had, in fact, missed it, with a depth and an ache that surprised her.

There wasn’t time to think on it; there wasn’t time to think on any of it. Ava set the feelings aside. She acknowledged them, like pain; thank you, she told herself, for this reminder. She breathed the night air in deep, inhaled the smell of the distant salty spray of the Tincta Basta, that faint fishiness that never left the air of the Rose, and exhaled the feelings out with it. Whatever was left she tucked away in a secret corner of her heart, and promised to face another time.

Ava tucked her hood back with The Wisp. Dark, winged eyeliner rimmed her eyes, stretched them out wide and luminous in the soft curves of her face. Her lips were painted bright red, a vivid color that drew the eye to their fullness. Black curls tumbled full around her face, down over her shoulders in front and back, a few strands tucked against the low-cut top of her dress. She checked the set of her corset, adjusting it with a quick tug, and felt the mist of rain against exposed skin, odd and unwelcome.

None of the discomfort of it showed on her face; Ava wore the sharp red gown as if it were as comfortable as her own skin. Like the lipstick, it was a little too bright; it, not to mention the rest of what it exposed, called the eye to her.

The faintest fringe of lace at the edge, just where the top met her skin, didn’t exactly do much to draw the eye away. Ava adjusted it as well, red-painted nails smoothing it with a careful delicacy, the tiniest chip here or there enough to snag the eye.

Ava turned her attention to Alyssa when she began to speak, took the letter and carefully tucked it away. She smiled at Alyssa when the other woman turned to her again. She didn’t bother protesting in defense of her abilities, such as they might be; it didn’t matter much at this point. “It’ll be easier if she comes willingly,” Ava agreed; the implied threat of kidnapping bothered her not in the slightest. As usual, there was a smooth Viendan quality to her accent - not Uptown, not quite, but a shopkeeper who dealt with galdori regularly, who was close enough not to offend their ears, while never coming so close as to attempt to imitate.

Ava swished the soft red folds of her skirt with her hand, and followed the brunette towards the door. Only men, she thought with a smile. This should be easy.

Ava watched Alyssa play with the men with a soft, seductive smile of her own, fingers twitching through dark hair as if it was all nothing to her. She glanced sideways at Aodh’s gruff aggression, and laughed, the sound soft and smoky on the night air. Her shoulders pulled back, ever so slightly, and making the most of the subtle shake of her frame.

Ava drew the letter from her cleavage with a little smile, and stepped forward with a soft, effortless swishing of her hips.

As a little girl in the Rose, Ava had always paid attention. It was a different kind of movement than what she had learned in Vienda, a different way of drawing the eye, but the rough, not unpleasant accent, the soft sway of the movements, the gentle, humid warmth with its promise of heat to come, were easy to slip on as a cloak.

“Ne pleasure for us t’night, ye chen?” Ava grinned; gone entirely were the soft cultured vowels of Vienda, replaced with an accent straight from Sharkswell. “We’ve inspectin’ t’do, nanabo,” her eyes flickered over the man with the mutton chops, and she smiled a little wider, turning to his friend, gaze lingering on his mouth, for all the world as if she liked what she saw.

“Let us in, oes?” Ava handed the letter to Alyssa, her hand lingering a long, smooth moment on the other woman’s arm, the faintest hint of a caress. “Ent no need t’ be so... rough,” she glanced sideways at Aodh, smiled a little wider, as if to say these guards hadn’t seen rough yet, then turned her attention back to the men at the gate.

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Raksha
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Tue Sep 03, 2019 1:06 am

10th Hamis, 2719
KINGS COURT| EVENING
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Alyssa smirked as Aodh-come-Frankie played his part to the letter, complete with swagger and overconfidence. Mutton Chops scowled at the other man, tapping his fingers on the butt of the gun for a second, before withdrawing his hand and tucking it under his suspender.

“Sod off wick. I ent shootin’ yet. Jus’…keepin’ th’ wildlife in check.” He said with a throaty chuckle, letting his eyes follow Ava’s fingers to the letter without a hint of polite modesty. Toothless giggled uselessly when she spoke, glancing at Mutton Chops and waggling his eyebrows.

“I goth something you can inspecth, prethy ladies.” He lisped, making little kissing faces at the brunette. Alyssa took the letter, drawing her lower lip between her teeth and humming a soft sound tailored to sound far more provocative then needed, before turning back and holding the letter out to the men between two slender fingers. Toothless took it, flicking the folded paper open and running his eye over it. He cleared his throat, resettling on his feet, and let his eyes jump from his companion to the trio and back to the letter.

The seconds ticked by.

“Well, what do it say y’slack jawed toffin’!” Mutton Chops snapped, impatient as the rain began to drizzle down on them a little heavier. Toothless sniffed and lifted his chin, folding the letter up again.

“It thaysth, dear Mithter Brotherth, let my whores inthide. Love Tharlett.” He said quickly, avoiding eye contact with his companion. The red haired brute curled his nose, looking at his partner with disbelief.

“Luv Scarlett? F’ fu—can y’ even read?” Toothless waved a hand.

“Course I can. It thayth what I thaid.”

“It does not. Give it t’ me.” The oily haired man quickly held his hand away from the bigger fellow, handing Alyssa the letter with a scowl.

”It thayth, what I thay it thayth.” He said more firmly, daring Mutton Chop to test him with a dark glare. Muttering to himself the red haired man let it go, waving at the trio.

“Go on then, fuck off an’ stop botherin’ us. Got extra shifts t’night thanks t’ th’ King.” Taking the letter and passing it back to Ava, the assassin tilted her head.

“I thought ye lot looked a bit sparse. Whare’s y’friends then? King got a party on y’ent invited to?” Toothless chuckled, looking at Mutton Chops who chuckled back. The blue eyed woman raised an eyebrow, glancing back at her companions, waiting for the Cacklers to finish their moment. Finally Toothless shrugged.

”Thomeone important wath found wathed up on the Arova, near Wrathwine. The folkth in Vienda are in a right thtate. King’th thsent folks eatht to thee if it’th true.” The Wisp resisted rolling her eyes with a sultry smirk, wondering which fat politician golly had pissed off the wrong person. Bloody galdori and their bullshit.

“That’d be right. Vienda, such a needy tumble. Give me th’ Habour life anyday. At least we own our murderous ways, eh?” She laughed, as did the two Brothers, and gestured for the two others to follow her. They walked on through the drizzly street for a while, before taking a turn and stopping out of view.

”I bet that was Jon’s distraction, though seems a bit extreme. Regardless, that’s the easy part done.” Glancing around the rooftops and dark shadows, the assassin nodded to a narrow street of dark buildings.

“That’s our target, down there, you can see the roof over the last houses. Night Blossom. It’s an….entertainment venue…but it’s not a tumblehouse. When we get there, you’ll meet Hatcher. She’s here to make sure if things go sour, if I don’t make it out, she’ll make sure you do. I asked her to come down earlier than us, to meet us out the back tonight. She’ll have our rides organised, and ready to go.” Brushing her hands through her damp hair Alyssa moved again, leading them through the houses rather than down the main street, weaving through narrow alleyways and side streets. It didn’t take long to reach the Night Blossom, its imposing stature softened by the warm glow from the windows. They paused in the shadow, the Wisp’s blue gaze searching the back entrance for guards or anyone who might halt their plan. She didn’t look for Caina, knowing that the girl would know better than let herself be seen from this distance.

It was clear, for now, and she hurried them all across the street to wait at the corner of the building. Alyssa whistled, a bird like sound, signaling Hatcher to make herself known.

“Okay. Here’s the plan. Silk, I want you and Firebrand to wait by the back door there. You need to look like you belong, understand? If anyone see’s or questions you, Silk’s out here for a bit of fresh air and her personal guard Frankie is making sure no one gets handsy.” Looking up, she assessed the situation of the windows above.

“I’ll go up through there, and open the back door. Silk, you come inside, Firebrand you and Hatcher stay out here and keep watch. If there’s trouble, sort it. Once we’ve got the target, we’ll need to move fast.” She looked at Caina, if she had joined them, and nodded.

“Quick, quiet and complete. No prisoners, no talkers.” Moving back from the building, she tucked her skirts into her undergarments and took a couple of settling breaths, before running towards the wooden structure. Her lithe form moved, jumping and scaling the building to grasp a window sill. Shoving off the edge of the window, she bounced off the walls to reach the very top, an open window in the attic. Pulling herself up, perching her rump on the painted sill, she swung her legs inside and landed on the wooden floor with barely a sound. Crouched in the almost pitch black darkness, the Wisp took a moment to get her breath and survey the room, before making her way across the storage area and to the door that would lead down to the rest of the house. Untucking her skirt and fixing her hair, the Freedom Fighter grasped the handle and opened it.

It would only be minutes, minutes that would feel like hours, and the others would hear the click of the door unlocking, before it swung open to reveal the stern faced assassin.

“Inside Silk. We’ll be back as soon as we can. Make sure you are both ready to move.” Closing the door behind Ava once she stepped inside, Alyssa smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes.

“Right. Brunette. Freckles, green eyes. Scar.” With that, she moved through the house as though she belonged, accompanied by the sweetly sick smells of incense and cigars, laughter and someone singing beautifully.

From within the house Ava would see many faces, women and men alike, but none of them would see her. As far as they were concerned, she was just another body in the mix. Another of the Blossom’s occupants. Occasionally, one of the girls would stop and look harder, curious looks on their faces but not enough to warrant concern. As she moved through the house, with its lavish interior and mens club affair, Ava would notice similarities between the Night Blossom and the house. She also may or may not have noticed a young woman, not quite yet in her twenties by the looks, with short cropped dark hair and a cigarette in hand, perched under the staircase away from prying eyes. Unless prying eyes were looking for her.

Outside, the rain fell harder, and the ground would become muddy. In the darkness a voice would call out from just beyond the boundary of the premises. It was a womans voice, a human, with a wide brimmed hat and what could be considered a pretty face save for the pockmarks of her youthful acne.

“Oi, you two. What’re you doing lurking around Mister Sutton’s? Oi!”

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Aodh Elzo
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Tue Sep 03, 2019 4:33 pm

10th Hamis, evening
Aodh nay Frankie locked eyes with Mutton Chops for a second longer grin still in place. He chuckled at the wildlife crack, un bothered by the pistol, if the man was gonna use it, he would have by now.

He stood there watching the two men as Aylssya and them spoke back and forth. For now his part was done, though it was best to stay in character, so he stood there thumbs hooked in his waistcoat pockets, nonchalant but ready.

The news of some important galdor washing up peaked his interest, but that would have to wait. If it was the distraction it had certainly worked.

As the trio walked passed the guards he gave Mutton Chops a wink and said softly to the pair.

“Aye, well done boys. Stay outta trouble now an’ maybe in a year or so they’ll let ya play inside.”

With that parting shot and a derisive chuckle he went through the gate.

Aodh pulled his coat closed and put his collar up against the rain, pulling his battered cap from a pocket and pulling on over his damp hair as he took in Alyssa’s instructions. Nodded a greeting to Hatcher as she joined them.

He watched with a professional eye as she scaled outside of the club, as a housebreaker himself he could appreciate her skill.

As time past and the rain grew heavier Aodh lent his back against the wall and took his pipe from a pocket and managed, after a few tries, to get it lit. He was just about to say something when he heard the woman approach, he shot Hatcher a look before turning his full attention to the woman.

“Why, just stepping out fer some air is all.”

He took a step from the wall, if they had to do something, then they’d need it to be quiet.

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Ava Weaver
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Tue Sep 03, 2019 4:59 pm

Evening, 10th Hamis, 2719
King's Court, The Rose
Ava laughed, as if Toothless’s joke had been funny (or, at the least, as if it had been a joke), the noise something like a giggle, but low and soft. It was the sort of laugh that passed inspection, the sort of laugh that looked and sounded right enough in this sort of company, with so much else going on. She wouldn’t have trusted it alone with him - but, then, Ava would very much have preferred never to be alone with him.

Ava kept her eyes on Toothless as he read the letter, smiling a little still. She let only soft surprise widen her eyes at the exchange between the two, lips sliding softly apart. Nothing of her satisfaction showed on her face when Toothless accepted the letter, and Ava tucked it back into her cleavage without the faintest hesitation, fingers lingering just half a moment too long.

Ava lifted a delicate eyebrow back at Alyssa when the assassin looked at her, still with that warm little smile on her face.

“Fotamos, nanabo,” Ava gave a last little wink to Toothless, and side-stepped grasping fingers with a little giggle. She kept up an easy, sashaying sort of walk until they were out of sight, the soft wet drizzle trickling over her skin and dress.

Ava followed Alyssa into the little alcove, and listened. She smiled slightly when Alyssa called the distraction extreme, and didn’t argue. Ava imagined it was rather an example of killing two birds with one stone. She adjusted the lace at the edges of her dress again, glancing sideways at the Night Blossom.

Ava followed Alyssa to the entertainment venue without question. “I understand,” she said, simply, in response to Alyssa’s questions. Ava wondered, not for the first time, what the Wisp knew of her; she wondered if Alyssa knew how very much fitting in at this sort of place would not be a problem. But Ava did not say anything; there would be no point, either way. 

Ava would glance at Caina as well, if the other woman showed herself, and make something like a smile, the best as she could manage. She watched Alyssa scale the building, and then she was gone, leaving the resistance members behind at the back door.

Ava was shivering now, just a little, the cold chill of the rain not anything like the worst of it. She took a deep breath, moving back against the shadow of the building, out of the worst of the wetness. She ran her fingers over her hair, brushing some of the wetness away, and teased at the curls, smoothing and plumping them in slow, repetitive motions. A bit of fresh air, she thought to herself, and had to swallow the giggle that threatened to rise up through her throat. As if.

The door opened, and Ava straightened up off the wall. The last trace of constraint slid from her face, and she smiled again, finding a warm, friendly expression once more as she stepped inside. Ava tugged out a handkerchief, and swept the worst of the moisture from her exposed skin, patting her face and hair dry as well. She checked her curls with her fingers, straightened up, and swept into the house with Alyssa.

Ava, too, moved like she belonged. It was, she had long since learned, about looking as if you were meant to be somewhere. A calm, confident smile – a hint of warmth at the edges, subtle friendliness with a faint hint of promise, mimicking the rest of the women in the house. In the Night Blossom. The cigarette smoke was thick in the air, and Ava breathed deep the mingled perfume smell, a taste she had nearly forgotten.

Her smile never wavered.

Ava parted from Alyssa without hesitation; they would cover more ground that way, and she was not in the least hesitant to be alone. In truth, she preferred it; the other woman was almost a reminder that this was only an act, now, and it made it harder to keep her face as it needed to be.

The scar, Ava thought, would be the trick; that was how she would know her, if it was not covered by make-up. Even a brunette with short hair and green eyes might be uncommon enough, among these sorts; most of the woman had longer hair. Young, too, Ava thought, from what they had said.

Ava’s eyes slid over the crowd – plenty of long hair, light and dark both, glinting in the lamplight and – there, tucked beneath the stairs. Short hair. Ava’s smile never wavered an inch; she scanned the crowd once for Alyssa, but the Wisp was too good at what she did; Ava couldn’t find her in the hazy, smoke-filled air.

Ava made her way over to the stairs, tucking herself into the shadow. She sighed, once, leaning back against a pillar, and turned a soft, conspiratorial smile to the young woman hiding there. “You don’t have a spare, do you?” She grinned a little more, looking down at the cigarette, then back up at the brunette. She didn’t put on the Old Rose accent again; she let the soft, polished tones of her Viendan accent shine through, confident that the room was busy enough that they wouldn’t be overhead.

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Caina Rose
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Wed Sep 04, 2019 3:06 pm

The Night Blossom • Anaxas, Old Rose Harbour
on the 10th of Hamis, 2719 • during the evening
I t seemed that the Rose would never change. When Caina was a child, the docks, buildings, and nooks and crannies of the city had all seemed so worn out, like they could topple at any moment. And the people had been the same way as well, although Caina didn’t have a name for it until she’d seen Viendans. It was then that she realized- not everyone was broken down, fighting for survival like starving dogs and stabbing each other in the back. Just most people, just humans.

Caina had been thinking of the Rose often, these past few months. Ever since her encounter with Ava Weaver, she’d been pouring over all her memories from before Vienda, before Tom, before.. Everything. She hadn’t noticed, but her life from before had slowly begun to slip away, until it had seemed that she sprung up, on the road to Vienda, with a mission and several holes in her heart. She’d meditated on her memories, trying to uncover ones like that day on the dock, with the tumblers and dough bits. She’d caught glimpses- a remembered smell, the sound of her father’s voice… but nothing concrete that she didn’t already recall.

These memories had been a concern of hers ever since that night, and had caused a certain anxiety when Caina had learned of their mission. But she tamped it down, because this was more important. Alyssa had trusted her to come down here, to secure their means of egress. A group of merchants from out of town had tied their horses up outside of a nearby tavern- Caina had paid the bartender to slip a little something in their drinks; just something to make sure they didn’t wake up during the night. Once the girl was taken (one way or another), it would be easy to slip through the shadows, and the horses would get them out of the city fast enough, before anybody could raise an alarm.

But that had been almost an hour ago, and now she was sitting on a rooftop three buildings down from the Night Blossom. Far enough away that she wouldn’t be seen by the guards, but close enough to keep an eye on things. It was impossible to tell in the dark, but she thought that she could see her house from here. The roof, at least.

There was a commotion down the road, at the guardpost, and Hatcher maneuvered herself to the edge of the roof to get a closer look. The guards had stopped a group of three, and Hatcher didn’t bother to hide her smirk as she recognized them. Alyssa might’ve been the most unrecognizable, dressed up as she was. Of course, she knew the man only in passing, and only by his codename. Firebrand, she thought it was.

After a few minutes’ conversation they came closer, and Caina knew for sure it was them. She ducked back away from the edge, ran a hand through her loose hair, and followed the little group from above, only coming down to the ground at Alyssa’s signal.

She landed almost soundless against the street, and left her hood up. Firebrand could be trusted, he wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t, but it was better to be safe than sorry. She stood between Alyssa and Ava in the little circle, nodding along as she thought was appropriate.

Once Alyssa had gone, Hatcher pressed herself underneath the eave of the house, hidden from the lamplight. She remained there until the door opened- as Ava entered, she and Firebrand might’ve heard a quiet “Vita guide you,” before the door slid shut and she stepped back into the light, this time taking Ava’s place on one side of the door.

They’d been out there for just a minute or two when Caina saw Firebrand shift, like he was going to turn to her and start talking. She readied herself for the pain of polite conversation when the shout was heard.

Hatcher took one step, to stand close enough to Firebrand that their arms brushed against each other. “No prisoners, no talkers,” She reminded him unnecessarily, voice meant for him and him alone, paired with a knife already flat against her palm. These were a special kind, made out of dark metal to keep from being seen in the night, and covered with dark soot for good measure. It was a throwing knife, one of three hidden beneath her cloak. Ishma’s knife was hidden under the floorboards in her room. It was too recognizable, and though Caina hated to leave it behind, she’d had to.

Now she broke away from Firebrand, taking two menacing steps forward. This was old hat to her: moving with her shoulders instead of her hips, dropping her voice and raising her left hand in a threatening fist as she spoke, and in the darkness she looked very much like a man. A short man, but a man nonetheless. “We oughta say the same t’you, you poxied erse!” A pause. “Tho, ye might be good enough for my friend, here…” They’d either draw her close, or scare her away. Either alternative worked- disposing of bodies was always a mess.
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Mon Sep 09, 2019 1:13 am

10th Hamis, 2719
KINGS COURT| EVENING
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As Ava spoke, a soft curse escaped the girl as she inhaled sharply, almost choking on the searing smoke that rushed into her lungs. Coughing, waving her hands to clear the smell, the short haired girl glanced sidelong at Ava.

“Son of a kenser, you scared the shit out of me.” She sighed, pressing a hand to her chest. Holding the short rolled tobacco pinched between her lips as she moved to fish another spliff from her top, the brunette held it out towards the other girl. She wasn’t dressed like Ava, or any of the other performers in the Night Blossom, instead she wore a pair of black men’s trousers, too high and too large for her waist, belted with a too large belt that she’d modified for her use. Her feet were covered in shoes that had seen the last of their prime days years ago, brown suspenders holding her pants up over a tucked cream shirt. Over the top of it all she wore a black men’s jacket, collar up as though to ward from cold weather. Her fingernails were bitten down to the skin, dirt still managing to catch under the little sliver of what was left. As she stood beside her, Ava would sense no field from the girl, no sway of mona that clung to the magic users of Vita.

“My last one, but have it. I’m sure I can convince one of those erseholes to part with a few later on.” She said with a shrug and a tired expression, muted green eyes looking over the brunette as she offered a set of matches. Her light tanned features were dusted with a spray of freckles, wide set eyes rimmed with thick lashes and dark locks cut short under her ears. A silvery scar swept it’s way across her face, over her cheek and disappearing away behind her lobe. Looking around, she took another deep inhale and shook her head.

“Can you believe they got that new girl on the stage tonight? She’s not even good.” Exhaling, the girl relished in her cigarette a while longer, quiet for a moment. Rubbing her nose with one finger, she gestured at Ava.

“You look familiar, have you been here for a while? Got a fancy voice too, like the gollies that come down the river from Vienda. But you ain’t no golly.” The girl said directly, finishing the last of the spliff before dropping it and crushing the ember into the carpet with her toe, before crossing her arms and looking over Ava again with a critical frown.


From the back of the Night Blossom, the young woman in the wide brimmed hat stared at the duo that lingered at the doorway, ignoring the rain that cascaded down on her. Her eyes drifted from Aodh to Caina and back again, hands sitting at the ready beside either hip where if both of them looked hard enough through the rain they would see two pistols in their holsters.

“Ent really a good night to be our getting air mister.” She called, a slight Bastian drawl in her voice. As Caina turned with a threatening stature and harsh words, the girl nervously took a step back and withdrew the pistols. As she pointed them at the duo, it would be clear to them that the young woman was fresh, too new at her role.

“Oi! Oi now, I’m just askin’ see? Brothers gotta do what Brothers gotta do. Sides, with everything that happened in Vienda, we gotta keep and extra eye out. All them fellas from the poxy golly city up and left right? Like just left.” Licking her lips, the girl squared her shoulders, thumb playing across the hammer of her right gun.

“You don’t much look like the type that Mister Sutton hires. Does Henry know you’re out here? I could just have a chat with Henry and s’all okay yeah?” She said over the rain, eyes on Caina with a lick of her lips and a frown. There was something in her gaze now, a slow dawning that perhaps she’d walked in on something she probably shouldn’t have, the pistols unsteady where they were trained on the two Freedom Fighters. Taking a deep breath in, the youngster called out as loudly as she could, glancing down the street for the briefest of seconds.

Henry?! Hey Henry these two belong to you?!


“Aww petal as long as you keep this between you and I, then it’s all fine yeah? I mean, it’s all just business right?” Alyssa purred as she clung to the arm of a portly galdori gentleman with a balding head and thick handlebar mustache. His field buzzed with excitement and a touch of concern as the lithe brunette led him up the stairs from the common room.

“A-as long as you’re quite sure, Miss Quezentillia. I w-wouldn’t want to upset M-Mister Sut—” The assassin shushed him with a single finger, smirking and giving him a wicked look.

“I am quite sure.” She giggled, turning slightly to see Ava near the underside of the staircase that led upstairs, spinning so she was directly in front of the portly gentleman’s line of sight, taking his bowler hat from his head and planting on her own.

“Listen, why don’t you head up and get comfortable. I’ve just got to powder my nose, then, I’ll join you.” Walking her fingertips over his chest, Alyssa tapped his nose with another giggle, causing the galdori to blush with a guffaw and waggle his fingers at her.

“Right. D-drawing room upstairs. I’ll be w-waiting, my little s-snugglepot.” He coo’d as Alyssa turned him towards the stairs with a wink and a wave. As soon as he was out of line of sight, the assassin dropped her smile with a deadpan face, reaching up to toss the hat away from her as she moved towards Ava.

“We’ve probably got ten minutes before he goes asking where I am. Any luck findin—oh.” The Wisp stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the young girl under the stairs, the color draining from her face and blue eyes locked firmly on the freckled being.

“Frances?” Alyssa breathed the name, her voice full of confusion and something else. Something old and hurting that had been not just buried, but soundly beaten into submission and locked away lest it interfere with her duties as Jon Serro’s right hand woman. The brunette looked between Ava and Alyssa, her nose curling a little bit.

“Nooo? I’m Em. Don’t think there’s a Frances here. Hey, so…who are you two again?”

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Ava Weaver
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Mon Sep 09, 2019 6:12 pm

Evening, 10th Hamis, 2719
The Night Blossom, King's Court, The Rose
Ava took the cigarette with a grin for the girl. She tucked it between her lips, struck one of the matches, and lit it easily enough between cupped hands, breathing in the fragrant tobacco as easily as if she were a regular smoker. She shook the match out, and offered the set back to the younger girl.

Ava exhaled a little smoke of her own into the air, and lowered the cigarette, traces of her own red lip color on the paper. “Just what I needed,” she grinned again. “Thanks.” She relaxed a little further into the dark secret space beneath the stairs, as if she just needed a little break, as if her feet hurt, and her cheeks too, from smiling so much. She remembered that feeling well; it wasn’t hard to find it again. It was there in the sag of the shoulders, in the way she pressed red-lacquered fingers against the curve of her cheeks. No one looking over would see anything but a woman taking a moment to find her face again.

Green eyes, short dark hair, and a scar across her cheek; Ava did not see how there could be two of them, not in one club. It was her. That only made nonchalance even more important; Ava did not stare at the scar, other than a polite, curious flicker of her eyes over it. Her gaze lingered a little longer on the girl’s eyes, and Ava smiled a little wider, friendly and easy about it.

“No,” Ava grinned again. “I haven’t been here long.” She took another drag of her cigarette. “And I’m certainly no golly,” she let the faintest hint of a sneer come into her voice at that, just the slightest edge of it.

“Here,” Ava extended the cigarette back to the frowning girl, once she had stubbed out the remains of her own. “I shouldn’t’ve taken your last,” she smiled a little more. “Shall we share it?”

She did not, Ava knew, have long; if she was to convince this girl to come with them, she would need to work quickly indeed, without letting anyone looking in see anything that might surprise them. Offering to share the cigarette was an easy enough link between the two of them, simple enough. Not to mention – Ava wasn’t entirely sure she could keep up the façade of being a smoker for an entire cigarette. She had had them before, but she’d never taken to the taste.

She tried to gesture to Alyssa not to come near, to give her just a little longer to work, but she doubted the other woman could see the movement of her hands, and she didn’t dare be any more obvious about it. It seemed, very nearly, to have the opposite effect; Alyssa drifted across the room towards her, and as if Ava had reeled her in. Ava gestured stop, hand jerking sharply, but the Wisp didn’t have eyes for her – only the green-eyed girl beneath the stairs.

“You can call me Silk,” Ava said, quietly, taking control of the situation once more. She shifted, putting herself between Alyssa and the girl, meeting Em’s eyes. “Em,” Ava said, quietly. Funny, she thought – funny – but there wasn’t time to think about anything but the here and now. “Do you like it here?”

Ava raised an eyebrow, gently, holding the other girl’s gaze. “Do you want to stay in the corner, watching the new girl on the stage, bumming cigarettes off erseholes?” Ava’s voice was low and soft; she counted on Alyssa to come out of whatever distraction had her held tight, and to screen Ava from the crowd. “Or maybe to be moved around, whenever someone decides you’ve been here long enough?”

“Or…” Ava let her voice trail off slightly; she lowered her gaze for a moment, then lifted it again, meeting Em’s eyes. “Would you like to be free?” Ava took ten years of captivity, and let them throb in that single question; her voice rasped on the cigarette smoke and the agony of it, but when it lifted at the end, raised in question, there was nothing but joy. “Come with us,” Ava extended a hand, gently, hidden from the room. “Now,” she grinned, still searching Em’s eyes with her own, holding her gaze without blinking, without the faintest hesitation. “Now or never.”

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Aodh Elzo
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Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:32 pm

Evening, 10th Hamis, 2719
In one motion he took the pipe from his mouth and flicked it at the woman's face, at the same moment he launched himself forward keeping low.
Roll for attack
1D6=3
Time seemed to slow and distance between Aodh and the woman seemed to be a mile, as he launched himself the last few yards as he did she fired. Bullet went wide of its mark, which had been Aodh's face, instead it grazed his left shoulder.
Just as his brass knuckled right fist in a rising uppercut that smashed into her jaw with his full weight and momentum behind it.
Her head snapped back and she hit the ground hard.
Aodh just managed to stop himself from going sprawling on the wet cobbles.

Quickly he picked up the second pistol, un-cocked it and stuck it in his coat pocket.

Aodh looked back to Hatcher.

"Aw shite, I reckon every murderous bastard in four streets would'a heard that."

It was then the pain in his shoulder made itself known.

"Vrunta! That clockin' hurts!"
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