The scent of cheap booze and unwashed human made Jynx wrinkle her nose. She brought her cup to her lips, eyes searching the crowded bar for her employer. No sign of him. Typical. With a sigh, she set her drink down with a thunk and a soft clink of coins as she rose to her feet.
The bartender caught her movements and called, "Leaving so soon, darlin'?"
Jynx smiled. "You couldn't pay me to stay in this hellhole, Rolan." She waved and made her way toward the door while he laughed.
"See ya tomorrow, same time!" he shouted after her over the noise of his drunken clientele.
She rolled her eyes, wishing she could deny it but knowing he was probably right. Then she was outside, the fresh- well, relatively fresh- air hitting her face like a shock of cold water. She stretched her arms over her head and twisted her neck from side to side, cracking it. If her employer wasn't going to meet her where he'd promised, she'd just have to track him down. "Guess it's up to me to be the professional. Again," she muttered to herself, and set off down the street.
It was a slow day for her so far. No jobs for her to take, no rich merchants for her to steal from. The only people running around the streets of Zantaric where Kira had posted up appeared to be those too poor to even feed themselves, and they weren't worth the trouble.
She decided it was time to move to a different location. There was a tavern not too far away which could prove to be a good location. Often people left too drunk to even realize they were robbed of anything. Combining that with Kira's capabilities, she wouldn't be surprised if she could rob the clothes off some of the men's bodies.
She stepped out from the shadows that were cloaking her, startling the young woman walking past so much that Kira thought she was going to have a heart attack. However, she simply continued on her way, heading down towards the tavern.
Within a few minutes it was in sight, and Kira took her place in the shadows across from the entrance to the tavern. It didn't take long before someone exited the establishment, a young woman who appeared to at least have some money. Anyway, some was better than none, and Kira was confident she could easily take this target.
She waited for the other woman to pick a direction, then once she was far enough ahead Kira stepped out from the shadows and began following her.
"Damned dandy with his prissy little face and stupid little-" Jynx grumbled to herself as she wove her way through the familiar streets of Zantaric. Her employer had said they'd meet at the tavern, so she'd never gotten an alternate address. Hell, for all she knew, he may have skipped town by now.
"Not that it'll do him any good," she muttered aloud, clenching her left hand spasmodically. She had ways of finding people if she wanted to; people and things. It was why her skills were so in demand, why she could make more than a decent living doing what she did.
She was so caught up in her own frustration that she didn't notice her tail until she was five or six streets away from the tavern. She paused, surprised both at her own carelessness and her stalker's stealth. Not many people could get that close to her without her knowing it- not any in fact, to her recollection.
Huh. She continued on her way more cautiously, listening carefully to the footsteps behind her. Jynx wasn't sure if her tail knew that she knew that she was being followed- a good one might, so it was best to assume so. Now it was a contest of wills: who would make the first move?
Kira was waiting for the right time to make a move on her target. The streets were a little more busy than she had hoped and it would take a good deal of timing to pickpocket this woman properly. Though the people of Zantaric often didn't care what happened unless it was happening to them, she still would rather not risk it.
When her target paused she kept walking but slowed down to a crawl to make sure she didn't get too close. Stopping completely would be too suspicious if her target had become aware of the fact that Kira was tailing her, which Kira was starting to think was the case.
She waited for her target to keep walking before she took her normal pace, looking around the rooftops curiously. Finally she spotted a flat rooftop on the path her target was taking. The shadows around her began to swirl and dance, eventually resulting in Kira disappearing, teleporting to the rooftop and cloaking herself within the shadows.
For now she would wait and watch from above, stepping through the shadows as necessary, until her target gave her a good chance to make a move.
Hmmm... She'd lost track of her tail. Damn.
Well, only one thing to do then- draw her out. She glanced around, then slipped into the small gap between two buildings, leaning against a wall and yawning (perhaps a bit too dramatically). She bent and rubbed at her foot, as though the walking was making her sore.
Come on, come on. Her eyes flicked around, searching the darkness. Come out, come out wherever you are...
It wasn't long before the woman slipped in between two buildings. When she did, Kira decided it was time to make her move.
She jumped through the shadows again, this time placing herself just next to her target, still cloaked in the shadows. Then, when the woman leaned down, Kira reached a hand out from the shadows to grab at her pocket.
Jynx snapped upright, hand flashing out to grab her would-be pickpocket's wrist. She blinked, a little startled that the hand seemed to be reaching from the darkness itself, not attached to anything.
But then, she'd seen stranger... Nothing that immediately came to mind, but still. "Alright, game's up. Show yourself," she said with a smile and flinty eyes.
When her wrist was grabbed the shadows surrounding Kira began to flicker and fade. It was a useful spell, to be sure, but it only worked while people were unaware of her presence.
Fuck.
That was the only thought that popped into her head. She had never been caught like this before. Normally she only worried about things like this during assassinations and kidnappings where her natural reaction would be to fight. However, she wasn't wearing her wrist blade and she had no idea what this person was capable of.
She said nothing, simply staring into the woman's eyes with a look of hatred.
Jynx whistled. "That's quite a glare, little miss," she said mockingly, arching an eyebrow. "But if I were you I'd drop the attitude. Who are you and what do you want?" She tightened her grip- not hard enough to really hurt but hard enough to let the younger woman know she meant business.
Kira shifted her eyes from the woman. "I wasn't doing anything. Just messing around with magic is all."
"Uh-huh." Her tone made it clear she wasn't buying it. "Don't play a player, sweetheart. I think I know when someone's trying to pick my pocket." She smirked. "So what is it you're after, exactly? Just coin, or something more specific?"
Kira shrugged. "Does it really matter?"
She tried to pull her arm free but the other woman had a good grip on her. With a sigh, she looked back at the woman. "My dad's really sick and I just needed some money to get him food. Now let me go!"
It was a lie, of course, but Kira was a habitual liar. It rolled of the tongue naturally, almost more naturally than the truth would. That didn't mean the woman would buy it, though.
Jynx sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes. "What did I just say? Honestly." She tutted, shaking her head.
Though she had to admit, the girl was good. She tilted her head, considering. "You know...if you fess up now, be honest with me- and I know that's asking a lot for people like us- well, I'm on this job. I could use some backup, particularly from someone with your...talents." She flashed a smile, eyes glinting, calculating.
Now that caught Kira's interest. Her entire demeanor changed in an instant. She relaxed her arms and made eye contact with the woman again. "You're joking, right?"
It had to be a joke. This woman just caught Kira trying to steal from her pockets and now she was being offering a job? It seemed far too good to be true. "What kind of job?"
Jynx knew she had her interest. She relaxed her grip, pulling away slightly. "The best kind of job," she said with a grin, "one where the hard work is already done. I just need your help to make sure my employer actually pays up. After that..." Her grin turned positively menacing. "Well, we'll just see, won't we?"
That was something she could do. Kira was normally good at getting what she wanted and even better at just taking it. "What do I get out of this?"
Jynx tilted her head, thinking. "Ten percent," she decided eventually. "Seeing as I've already done the hard bit. That comes out to...eight gold pieces for you." She grinned slyly. "Which is quite a bit more than I have on me at the moment, if you were thinking of robbing me anyway."
Well, it was a lot better than nothing, that was for sure. "Alright, I'm in. I have to make a stop back at my house, though."
Jynx nodded. "Alright." Her employer had made her wait long enough already, where was the harm in another hour or so? "Lead the way then, sweetheart," she said with a grin.
Kira nodded. "It's actually not that far from here, so it shouldn't be long."
She stepped out from between the houses and turned left, heading down the street further away from the tavern still. "Name's Kira, by the way."
"Jynx." She nodded at the younger woman, keeping close to her as she led them through the streets. People in Zantaric weren't usually in the habit of keeping their word, so she kept a close eye on her in case she decided to bolt or use that freaky shadow-magic.
That's rich, coming from you.
The raspy, amused voice in her head made her shudder. Shut up. "I gotta say, Kira, those were some nice moves back there. Not many people could sneak up on me like that."
"And most people wouldn't have detected my presence." Kira replied. "It really did take me by surprise when you grabbed my arm."
It wasn't long before they arrived at the small house that Kira called home for now. It was simple, with only one floor that was separated into three rooms. "Here we are. You can come inside if you want. I just need to grab something out of my room real quick."
"Don't mind if I do." She followed her into the house, looking around curiously. She arched her eyebrows. "Not a bad set up, for a town like this," she commented softly. The kid must be doing ok for herself.
That thought made her scrunch her brow. Kid... "Say, how old are you anyway?" she asked abruptly.
"Me? Twenty." Kira said without even thinking, although it was another lie. She couldn't help it, really. Working with others was something she didn't do often and giving out information about herself was something she never did at all. Well, at least I actually gave her my name.
She walked into her room and picked up her wrist blade, securing it on her right arm before stepping back out into the room where Jynx was. She was still adjusting the straps when she walked out, making sure it was tight enough on her arm. "Alright, this is all I needed."
Jynx nodded. She looked a bit younger than twenty, but hey, it was plausible. She shrugged- not like she was the poster child for honesty anyway- and jerked her head toward the door. "Right then, shall we?"
She stepped back out into the night without waiting for an answer, expecting the younger woman to follow.
Kira followed close behind the other woman, swinging her bladed arm around as she walked to make sure that the blade was secure on her arm. Adjusting the straps one more time, she was finally content with its security and sped up a little so that she was walking by Jynx's side. "So, your client skipped town, huh?"
Jynx glanced back at her. "Yeah. Probably thought I got myself killed on the job. Or he decided it was too risky and didn't want to be caught paying me." She flashed a wicked grin. "I don't take well to folks who back out of a deal."
She eyed the blade and asked bluntly, "You any good with that thing?"
"I know the feeling." Kira said with a grin.
She looked down at the blade on her wrist when Jynx mentioned it and couldn't help but let out a soft laugh at the question. "Good enough to keep myself alive so far. Never had a complaint about my skills with it from my employers, either... at least not one I couldn't silence."
She ran her other hand along the top of the blade, fingers brushing gently over the cold metal. "How about you? I can't imagine you're in Zantaric unarmed."
A smirk spread across her face. "Hardly," she agreed, lifting the hem of her shirt to show the two knives strapped to her hips. There were more of course, hidden in various places on her person, but those two would do for now.
Of course, she had other weapons as well. But she preferred to keep those in reserve.
That rasping voice grated across her mind: You never let me have any fun.
With a small effort, she ignored it. Taking a sharp turn into an alley she said, "He can't have gotten far, probably holed up at one of the inns on the road out of town."
"If you don't mind me asking, what was this job you took anyway?" Kira asked, curious as to why the woman's employer had left. Of course, it could be something as simple as not wanting to pay for the job, but she liked to have a bit of an idea of what she was getting involved with.
Jynx shrugged. "You know. Rich guy, wanted something he didn't have. Paid me to get it. Same old." She reached into her cleavage and pulled out her mark: a silver-woven braid inlaid with diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds. "It's supposed to be enchanted. Or cursed. Or something." She shrugged again, replacing the necklace.
"I see." Kira said, pausing to think. Normally when her employers disappeared it was when they put out a hit on someone. Their enemies end up dead and they think they end up not having to pay. Of course, nine times out of ten Kira found them. "Naturally you're going to keep the necklace and the money now, I assume?"
Jynx gave her an appraising look. Sharp little thing. "That depends, I have to figure out what it does first." She smirked. "If it really is cursed, I don't wanna carry it around with me any longer than I have to."
"Fair enough." Kira said with a shrug. She couldn't imagine it would be hard to sell something like that if there was no mention of a curse. Maybe if this woman ended up not wanting it Kira would take it off her hands.
They were reaching the edge of town now. Jynx clenched her fist, ready to hit her nails into her palm. "Say, that shadow trick of yours- how long can you keep it up?"
"Indefinitely, as long as I don't move." Kira said with a shrug. "Though I can also jump through the shadows, so it doesn't really matter."
After a few moments she added. "Oh, light magic sometimes messes it up too. Also sometimes people can tell that something's not quite right."
She nodded. That would do. "Alright then- once we find my employer, I want you to stay hidden as long as possible, yeah?"
People were much easier to manipulate when they were scared.
"Easy enough." Kira said calmly. "Stealth is my specialty."
Jynx smirked slightly. Something about the girl reminded her of herself.
The road they walked was quiet, but she was wary. Even out of the actual "town", Zantaric was never a safe place to let your guard down.
In the near distance she saw lights, an inn. Nodding at it, she said to Kira, "We'll check here first. Wait outside, I'll come get you if you're needed, alright?"
Kira nodded. "I'll keep an eye out from one of the windows to make sure there's no trouble."
Of course she would also be spending time by the door to the establishment, reaching from the shadows to grab at the pockets of the patrons coming and going.
Jynx nodded. Soon enough they were at the door and she threw her new partner a wink before slipping inside, making her way across the noisy, crowded common room to the bar. "The innkeep here?" she asked the man who was scrubbing out a mug.
"That'd be me," he said, leaning over the bar with a grin that said he smelled a customer. "What can a do for you? Need a room?"
She widened her eyes and let her lower lip quiver. "It's my husband, sir," she said, voice wavering, "He hasn't been commin' home on time these past few nights, and I'm afraid-" She swallowed dramatically and forced her eyes to tear up. "I followed him, sir, I know it ain't right but- but I just can't stand the thought of- Did he come in here? Finely dressed, a few inches taller than me, dark hair and eyes?"
The innkeeper's mouth twisted in sympathy. If she played it right, she could make people look past her scar and only see a scared young woman. "Oh... I'm afraid he did come in, miss." He glanced around and leaned closer, lowering his voice. "I'm not supposed to tell ya things like this, but...he's in room eleven, took one of my barmaids up there with him." He gave her a pitying look. "I'm truly sorry, miss."
She nodded, taking a breath to "steel herself" and murmuring her thanks, letting a single tear drip down her cheek.
Then she turned and made her way back out of the inn. Once she was out of earshot, hidden in shadow, she called, "Kira?"
During the time Jynx had been in the tavern there wasn't much activity. One man left the tavern a bit too drunk and Kira swiped everything in his pockets, but it only ended up being a few copper and silver pieces. After a little bit she got bored and jumped through the shadows towards a nearby window so she could watch what was going on. It was hard to tell exactly what was happening since she couldn't hear them but she felt more comfortable keeping an eye on Jynx than just waiting outside blindly.
When Jynx began to walk back towards the door, Kira moved her way back to where she had originally positioned herself at the entrance. Upon her name being called, she let the shadows around her fade away, revealing herself to Jynx. "How'd it go?"
Jynx smirked. "He's upstairs. Room eleven. Apparently he's got a woman with him." She looked her younger companion up and down. "Ready to do some shadow hopping?"
Kira nodded. "Room eleven, got it. I'll wait for you outside the door."
With that, the shadows swirled around her again and she disappeared from sight, dancing her way through the darkness to the door of the room where Jynx's employer was.
Jynx took the more conventional root, slipping back into the tavern and making her way as stealthy as possible across the taproom to the stairs. It wouldn't do to have the innkeeper see her after she'd walked out like that.
Up the stairs she went, then down the hall, sliding one of the knives from her hip and holding it at the ready. Nine...ten...eleven. She paused a few feet away from the door. "Kira?"
Once again, Kira let the shadows around her fade as she brought herself back into view. Whispering so that no one on the other side of the door would hear her, she said, "I'm ready. What's the plan?"
"Can you jump into the shadows in the room? Or does the door have to be open?" Jynx asked. She could work with either, but if the girl could get in there first damn it would be fun.
"It shouldn't be a problem." Kira said with a confident nod. "Unless there's some sort of charm on the door."
"Alright." Jynx nodded. "Then you head in first. Move around, make some noise, scare them a bit, you know? When you're ready for me, knock on the door and I'll come in."
"Sounds good." Kira said. She looked through the small crack between the door and the wall and disappeared into the shadows, jumping through into the room. Inside the room she could see the man and the woman. They appeared to have just started as the man was still clothed and the woman only had her top off.
Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed the copper coins she had gotten from the man earlier and dropped one on the ground. The man and woman both seemed to have ignored it, so she dropped another one. This time it got their attention and they began looking around the room to see what was happening.
She danced through the shadows some more until she was next to the bed. This time she through a coin at the head of the man while he was looking the other way. With an "Ouch!" he quickly turned around, but Kira had already moved to another location. She was next to the dresser now and reached out to tip it over, resulting in a loud crash. The man and woman both jumped and the woman screamed in fear.
It was then she jumped back to the door and knocked twice.
Jynx was ready. The moment she heard the knock she murmured, "Dionish, come to me," drawing her knife sharply across her palm and flinging it out toward the door.
A few drops of blood struck the wood and the door creaked inward. Her stomach twisted and she clenched her teeth against the discomfort of the summoning as a demon crawled its way onto their plane.
It was a nasty thing, looking most like some cross between some sort of lizard and a dog with the gripping hands of a primate, rusty orange and brown in color. It growled, leaping into the room and making right for the bed, knocking the man onto the bed and sending the woman screeching for safety.
Jynx sauntered in, popping her hip and smiling brightly. "Well, here you are!" she exclaimed, "I've been looking all over for you." She gestured to the shadows meaningfully. "I see Dionish has introduced himself, but have you met my other demon."
She hoped Kira would take the hint.
The demon took Kira a little bit by surprise, simpy because she wasn't expecting it to come from Jynx. She couldn't help but stare at it until she heard the hint to come out of the shadows that Jynx gave her.
The shadows around her swirled and expanded outwards as they always did when she deactivated the spell, slowly causing Kira to come into view a little bit at a time. The woman screamed again, causing Kira to let out a laugh. "What's the matter? Did you see a ghost?"
"Ah, there you are, Kira," Jynx said airily. She faced her employer, smirking.
She knew that he knew that only a ridiculously powerful demonlord- at least in her class- would be able to summon and control two demons for any length of time. While she might have been able to pull it off for real, it made things much simpler to have Kira pose as a high-class humanoid.
Plus, this was more fun.
The woman seemed to have fainted. Jynx shook her head, tutting. Dionish rasped out a demon's chuckle and the man on the bed shuddered.
"Wh-what do you want?" he squeaked.
She shrugged. "Just what you promised me. Payment."
He shook his head. "I- I don't have the money!"
She sighed. "Don't play a player." To Kira, she said brightly, "Mind checking that claim for me?"
Kira shrugged, grin growing on her face. "I suppose I can. Though I only have one hand to do it with."
Her fingers brushed along the edge of her wristblade as she talked. The shadows swirled around her as she jumped to the man's side, reaching into his pockets one by one. She didn't find anything. "Nothing. We could search the room but I think he should tell us."
"Well, you heard the lady," Jynx said, eyeing the man expectantly. "Cough it up."
He glowered at her in silence. She snapped her fingers and Dionish growled. "Did I mention he's poisonous?" she said sweetly.
"My bag, under the bed," her now ex-employer squeaked out.
Jynx grinned. "Thank you kindly." She quirked an eyebrow at Kira. "Mind grabbing that?"
"My pleasure." Kira said as reached under the bed and brought out the bag, dropping it on the bed between the man and Jynx. "All yours."
She assumed Jynx would want to count the money herself, after all.
Jynx expertly fished the coins out of the bag, letting them clink into her palm. Her payment and then some.
She pocketed the money with a smile. "Next time you send someone on a suicide job, show up to pay them anyway," she said easily. "Dionish, keep him down for a minute." She jerked her head at Kira.
"C'mon, let's get out of here."
Before she left the man's side, she took her wrist blade and ran it down his cheek for about two inches. It wasn't a horribly bad cut, but it would likely leave a scar. She then leaned in and whispered to the man, "Remember me."
Hopefully Jynx wouldn't think she took it to far. It was a ritual of hers, something she did to all of the targets she wasn't assigned to kill. She believed that you should always follow your rituals.
She wiped the blood off of her blade and then followed Jynx out of the room.
Jynx raised her eyebrows slightly, but didn't say anything until they were out of the tavern. "A little intense back there," she commented once they were a safe distance away. Her tone wasn't condemning, more observational.
"It's something I do to everyone I don't kill." Kira said with a shrug. "It normally works better when I fade back into the shadows afterwards. People act as if they had just seen a ghost. Sometimes they even faint."
"Mhm." Jynx's eyebrow crept higher but she let the subject drop. "Oh, here." She fished some coins out of the bag and and flicked them in the younger woman's direction, grinning. "Job well done. You deserve that."
Kira caught the coins with ease and put them in her pocket. She grinned at the other woman. "Thanks. You know, that demon trick was pretty cool."
Jynx gave a chuckle that was only about thirty percent bitterness. "Thanks. Wanna see some more?"
Without waiting for an answer she put to fingers to her lips and whistled. With a strange rustling noise, Dionish appeared at her side, looking up at her and panting. She patted his head and offered him the palm she'd cut, letting him lick the blood.
The wound sealed up and she clenched her hand into a fist, murmuring, "Return through the Veil."
Silently, the demon shimmered, then disappeared.
After a moment of watching the demon fade away in wonder, Kira snapped straight back to business. "So, what are you gonna do with the amulet?"
Jynx sighed and pulled the thing out, frowning at it. "Well, I know a guy in Zantaric who's pretty good with cursed objects. He might be able to tell us what's up with it. Then I guess I either keep it or pawn it, depending on if it's enchanted or cursed."
She looked over at her. "Why? You wanna come?"