Nothing Unusual Here. [Shizzy!]

[Anonymous]

((OOC: Continuing from here))

Home at last. She took a deep breath as all the familiar sights, smells, and sounds came rushing to welcome her home. It was near noon and people were flooding the streets. There were every shape, size, and color of humanoid she could think of walking around, bartering with merchants, or just making nuisances of themselves. She loved how anybody and everybody could do business in Arca.

It made her job a lot easier.

Finding a decent inn with rooms might be a little bit harder, though. She briefly considered just heading for her house but, though Ghosty seemed harmless enough, an assassin who underestimated somebody was one who was quick to die. There were a few innkeepers in town that owed her a few favors and she decided that cashing them in would be much more favorable to spending who knew how many hours searching for suitable place.

Snaking her way through the crowd, trusting Ghosty to keep up and watch out for himself, Ceria plied one of her lesser skills. Pickpocketing. It was pretty easy, with people pressed as they were, to "accidentally" bump into people. Most didn't realized what had happened until it was far too late and those that did pick up on it in time were quickly pulled away by the crowd.

It wasn't too much longer before the desired inn came into view. It was a modest inn, removed from the main thoroughfares of Arca. The innkeeper prided herself on providing her patrons with a quiet place to relax and unwind. It was a suitable place for her to...straighten out some terms with Ghosty. Hopefully he wouldn't be too much of a hassle. Once they were in front of the inn, the assassin spun to face her slightly unwilling, soon-to-be partner in crime. "Well, here we are."

[Anonymous]

Dangers were always present to a man who was trained to look for them.

Plain and simple. Shale was a man who always expected the worst, and for the most part, would look for any danger that might be out there. Could that person know who you were? Did you steal from that person and left behind something they could identify you with? Even to the extremes, such as believing everyone was a mind reader, or could just look at you and know that you were guilty, that you had done things. It was extreme, but it was something that kept him alive.

He wasn't so sure that this was a good idea, but the woman had yet to give him his dagger back yet, and he couldn't just let this stand. He was already a terrible spy here, people abused his skills and didn't really appreciate them as much as he wished they would. He wasn't a bad spy, people were just bad employers, they didn't give any real specifications to what they REALLY wanted, or would get mad at him if he came back with information that didn't please them. Some days, he really wished he could just forge documents for them.

That however, was the mark of a bad spy.

He couldn't let himself sink any lower.

He followed her easily, it wasn't that hard considering he was wrapped in black and people gave him a berth. It was to be expected though, because he didn't really come out during the day, and didn't have a need for inconspicuous daytime clothes. It was a mistake now that he saw it, but he held true and would not accept clothes from the woman. There were times, at night, when he just sat there watching her, wondering if he could take the dagger from her. She slept with it, she kept it so near to her...any sort of attempt would wake her and could end badly.

Other nights, he fantasized about giving her the other knife. Straight into her neck. However, revulsion would creep into his body and he would shudder at the thought of it, of the thought that he might...enjoy murder. It was so legal here, in terms of...getting away with it. On his world, you could still get away with it, but the ultimate shame of getting caught was too much to handle for some.

His thoughts were quickly dispelled as he almost ran into the woman as she spun to face him. He had a slightly mournful look on his face, but it was mostly hidden behind the cloth wrapped around his nose and mouth. He did however, have his large sad eyes which looked up at the building in front of them. An Inn. "You're not going to charge me for this are you?" Was all he could say as he looked down to her, one eyebrow slightly raised.

[Anonymous]

Charge him? Ghosty didn't think much of her if he thought she'd charge him for something she was forcing him to do. "'Course I'm not going to charge you." She said, beaming up at him. "You're going to be my helper and all and it just wouldn't do for me to charge you for it." She absently fingered the dagger she was 'holding' for her 'associate.' "It's not like I gave you much choice to be here, anyway. It just wouldn't be right" She shook her head to punctuate the point.

"Now come on. I want to get home as soon as I can so we're not going to be here for more than a day." She turned and headed into the common room. The inside was neat and clean, as usual, the patrons murmuring to each other over their glasses. One of the three very large men along the wall glanced over in Ceria's direction when she entered. They were the main reason why Ayda's peace was always kept; if anybody started making a ruckus, the offender would quickly find themselves tossed out into the street. Ayda herself stood wiping a table with a piece of cloth and keeping half an eye on the common room. She was a larger woman, though fat had very little to do with it. She would be able to toss a lot of people out herself if she took a mind to it.

Ayda straightened as Ceria walked up to her and greeted the assassin in a carefully neutral tone of voice. "Hello Ayda." Ceria said cheerfully. "I'd like to ask you a favor." She put a slight emphasis on the middle word that made the other woman's face tighten. "Do you have a couple of rooms me and a friend could use for the night?" The innkeeper stood looking at the smaller woman for about a minute or two, glanced at the strongmen near the wall, then sighed. "Yeah. I suppose. Come on then." She turned and headed up stairs. "Great!" Ceria exclaimed, clapping her hands together cheerfully. "Come on, Ghosty." She waved him to follow her and headed up the stairs.

When Ceria topped the stairs, Ayda was standing at the end of the hallway looking very impatient. "Hurry up, I haven't got all day." The innkeeper said in an ill humor. "These are your rooms." After seeing that her 'guests' were situated, the large woman went back down stairs where she proceeded to snap at the idle men to stop slacking off. Ceria grinned at the innkeeper as she passed before turning to her companion. "I'll take this one." She walked into the one that was closer. "You can have the other. Don't get too comfy, though, we need to talk over a few things later." And with that, she closed the door, peeled off the clothes she had been wearing since she had left Arca last and climbed into bed for a nap.

[Anonymous]

She was holding him hostage in a way, and he really didn't think too highly of her. He really wished that she just gave him his dagger back and he could run away. It really wasn't working out for Shaleus, but he was a spineless sort of man. He just did what he was told and didn't honestly argue it all that much. When he saw it was hopeless, he let out a sigh, shook his head, and just...went about his way.

Maybe it would be good. Maybe she'd give him a spine.

"I'm g-glad to hear that..." He kept his mouth shut though, not speaking his mind. Even though she was holding his weapon hostage, and forcing him to be here, making him pay his own way here. She didn't however, she was actually being...nice? Yeah. That's what she was being. "Oh uh...alright, yeah...I don't...nevermind." So they only came to Arca for a DAY?! Or...were they only going to stay in the Inn for only a day, and then go to her house? All he knew is that she was going to use him to commit murder...and he really couldn't believe that. He hoped that she'd want him to just rob some treasury or something...but...she still seemed to be wanting to get him to kill people.

Shadows help him.

He pulled his cloak more around his body as he stood beside Ceria, nervously looking at the men at the back wall before looking at the very tall, very intimidating woman wiping tables. If these were the sort of people that would be found in Arca, he was pretty sure this place would be his grave. He just let Ceria do all the talking, and kept his mouth shut. That would be for the best, since he didn't know anyone here, or what was going on. Ceria seemed to be on the woman's bad side, but there was some form of...grudging respect or fear of some kind. Whatever it was...Ayda didn't seem to like Ceria, but she wasn't too forthright with that.

"W-what? Oh c-coming Ceria." Like a faithful puppy he was right on her heels, following after her as she walked with Ayda. Shale was very careful as Ayda went back downstairs after showing them to their room, he pressed flat against the wall so they didn't touch. She seemed like the kind of person that might crush him for accidentally touching her. "Uhm...o-okay." He quickly went into his room and closed the door, but not locking it. It was useless to lock it of course. No doubt she had her ways of getting into his room. He sat on the edge of the bed, and closed his eyes. "Dear Shadows, please...I don't know...help me?" He opened his eyes and looked around. Nope. There was nothing there...like...his dagger appearing suddenly and then he could run the hell away.

Shale got off the bed and headed to a corner to sit in it, sighing to himself. Beds. Ugh. He couldn't really...sleep. Not right now. At this juncture, he rarely found himself sleeping. Ceria was a very worrying person to have holding something over his head. She was good and bad for him. Mostly bad for him. She wanted him to kill for her.

This was not going to be anything good. "Why me?" He moaned quietly as he looked upward, hoping for some sort of answer. No answer of course. Just silence. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Alright...maybe just have a little snooze or something. That'd be fine right?

[Anonymous]

Ceria woke up some hours later to find that darkness had fallen. Perfect. She stretched, swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and sat up. She yawned and gave her clothes a funny look. The assassin was not looking forward to putting those back on. They had weeks, if not months, of dirt and grim on them. It'd be a relief when she could wear clean clothes again.

But first was the matter of Ghosty.

Her job was doubly hard there. Not only did she need to find out exactly what he could do but she needed to get him on her side. It was obvious he wasn't very excited about the business partnership they'd formed. It just wouldn't do. She picked up the pants she had discarded earlier and fished out Ghosty's dagger and stood staring at it for a few minutes.

She could always give it back to him. No doubt it'd make Ghosty happier but would he stay? His abilities were much too valuable for her to just throw away but she had no idea how much longer he'd meekly wait for her to give the knife back. Ceria was a little surprised he hadn't yet. So. What to do? She sighed and got dressed.

She knew what she had to do.

After getting dressed, the small woman exited her room and stood at the door to Ghosty's room. I wonder if he's up. Shrugging, she knocked on the door, though not too loud. "Ghooooooooosty. Oh Ghoooooosty. Are you up?" She waited for a moment or two before trying the door and pouted when she discovered it was unlocked. That wasn't any fun.

Opening the door, Ceria stood in the opening looking a little confused. He wasn't it the bed but a quick look over of the room found him easily enough. Why was he sleeping in a corner? She'd find out soon enough. "Ghooooosty." She poked him in the forehead a couple of times. "Hey." Poke. "Wake up." Poke poke.

[Anonymous]

Ghosty...er...Shale...was currently lost deep in his own psyche. The subconscious was a strange place to visit when you were sleeping, and you always hoped that if you had a bad dream, or a really...really good dream that led you to a case of homesickness or forlorn despair, you'd hope that when you woke up you wouldn't remember it. His dream wasn't anything too bad of course, he simply dreamt of his family, of his home, of returning there one day and being the best damn spy that had ever lived. He'd rewrite all the rules, he'd become a legend, and everyone would strive to become like him.

Alas, dreams were usually just that...fleeting and impossible to acquire.

It also didn't help when there was something strange happening to your body. His eyes instantly shot open as she poked his forehead again. There was a strangled yell and he suddenly...disappeared through the wall. Clothes and all this time. However, the wall he had sunk through had not been the wall his back was against, but the wall his side was against.

Hanging on for dear life, there was Shaleus, just outside the window, his hands and nails digging into the little overhang. "C...Ceria?" His voice was very quiet as he tried to call up to the window. He began to kick his legs a little, trying to find a hold for his feet, when he finally found one, he pushed off and got to the window, sliding it up and then hauling himself inside. It seemed that he wasn't completely useless after all. He did however have his back against the wall again, one hand on his chest and breathing deeply. "I...d-don't like being w-woken up t-that way." He muttered quietly as he didn't look at her. It was hard to wake up a man who jumped at his own shadow, and could literally jump through walls and his own clothes. No doubt if he got scared, she could probably make his skeleton jump out of his own skin.

Best not to try that though, it'd probably be messy.

"W-what are you d-doing here? Is...are...we s-starting training?" He asked quietly as he looked up to her. He did seem a bit more...twitchy than normal, but then again he had almost died, so it was understand. His breathing was still a bit heavy as well. All in all, it looked like Shale would probably one day die of fright. Just, not today.

[Anonymous]

It took her a second to process where Ghosty went. When she realized what had happened, Ceria frowned, straightened up, and crossed her arms below her breasts. She didn't know which wall he had phased until the window was being raised to let Shaleus back inside. Not that she would have helped him in the first place, it was his own fault after all.

She looked down at him, her arms still crossed and her foot tapping. "Yes. I suppose." Ceria relaxed her body, gave herself a shake, and went over to the window Shaleus was resting below to open it the rest of the way. She winked down at him. "See you on the roof." Switching her grip to the sides of the window allowed Ceria the leverage she needed to pull her legs up and over Ghosty's head and plant them on the ledge outside. This left her leaning half inside the window and half outside of it. "Don't be too long now." She pulled herself the rest of the way outside then started her climb to the top of the inn.

The climb wasn't anywhere near hard considering the inn only had two stories and they were on the second floor. It gave Ceria plenty of time to dust herself off and orientated to where the house was. She backed away from the ledge and sat down, waiting for Ghosty to catch up. She'd give him his dagger back. He would just have to catch her first.

[Anonymous]

"W-wait what?" She was a very strange lady, even more so now. Of course, his face went a little redder when she came so close, and she straddled the window he was sitting under. What he wouldn't have given for her to be wearing a skirt. Shale shook the dirty thoughts from his head though as she suddenly pulled herself completely out and...disappeared upwards. Okay. She wanted him to go onto the roof then? Whatever the reason, that was beyond him, however, he was having to follow. Not like a puppy after its master of course, but more like a puppy after his master who had his favourite or most prized possession.

Granted dogs and puppies usually didn't count a dagger as prized possession.

With a resigned sigh he got up and turned to look out the window. Okay, this wouldn't be...this wouldn't be a problem. No, he could totally handle this! Yeah! With a deep breath he followed suit, remembering all the training. A spy had to know how to climb, and not just small buildings like this, but castles, even city walls. The only thing he could really be thankful for is that he had training, and he was wearing black so no one could see him. That well anyway. They could still see him as he scaled the side of a building, he'd be a big black shadow, and that was usually what you hoped for.

Of course, they might wonder why...and he was glad he wouldn't have to explain it to them.

It took him about as long as it took her to finally get up on the roof top. He had failed climbing three times at the Academy, but on purpose if one could believe it. The only place to get good climbing training without being an actual spy was in the academy, and his fear of being a splattered pancake made him fail the class so he could get better. Also, the teacher had been quite the looker, so he also made sure to fail so he could ah...get some private climbing lessons with her. Never happened, but still! It was the thought that counted, or something along those lines.

He dusted himself off as best he could, before he looked to Ceria. Alright. This was...uh..."Why...are we up here?" Was this part of his...new training? Were they going to kill someone tonight? His mind raced, and he honestly hoped that this was just because she wanted to see the stars better.

[Anonymous]

"We're up here because nobody will hear you scream." Ceria gave him her best deadpan before breaking out in a grin. "Don't have a heart attack on me, it was a joke. We're actually up here so you can have a chance at getting your dagger back. At least, I assume you still want it back, yes?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "So! It's a game of tag. Catch me if you can!" She scampered off across the rooftops.

The assassin knew she had a distinct advantage over the spy. After all, Acra was her home and she'd been running through it for years now. She knew quite a bit about the rooftop routes and made sure she could keep a lead on Ghosty. It wouldn't do to have him catch up, now would it? There were a couple of points where he got a little too close for her comfort but a quick dip into her powers allowed her enough time to get away.

She lead him around for about a half-an-hour before turning towards the house. Now that she had an idea about how good he was in pursuit, she'd see how good his infiltration skills were. Ceria chuckled evilly in her head. This would be a good chance for her traps to be tested, assuming nobody had been stupid enough to try and break into her house while she was away.

A dead sprint closed the last few dozen yards to the house quickly enough for her to slip into one of her side entrances and bolt it behind her. Now she just had to wait for Ghosty to find her. Hopefully he wouldn't be too sore after it. She hummed a merry tune as she made her way to the study.

[Anonymous]

With what she said, Shale practically froze, and he could feel his heart race. He was almost about to start disappearing through the roof when she suddenly grinned at him. He could have had a heart attack! Or really, he could have found himself in a different reality or phasing through the roof naked. Oh Shadows he would not be able to handle that at all. It would be so humiliating...worse than ending up naked in a barrel. Well actually they were kinda on par in the spy's mind.

"W-wait what?!" He hadn't been paying too much attention. Suddenly she was off and running! That was completely unfair! But it was a chance to earn his daggers back. Come on Shale. You can do this. You were BORN a spy. You HAVE to do this. He told himself in his mind. He had to focus...Shadows he had to focus and he had to just...get his dagger back. If he didn't, he was a failure. He was a failure and he didn't deserve to be a spy.

Shale began to run, not even thinking. That was his problem usually...is he thought too much. This time...no thinking. Just breathing...running...following. If he thought too much, there would be problems and trouble...his legs carried him, his mind automatically picking routes for him to go to, and with them...he got close. Each time that he was almost there, she was suddenly moving away faster and faster. He didn't understand how, but he just continued to follow...there was no time to think. His eyes took in everything in front of him, every gap, every roof top, everything that he had to run on, or jump to.

He felt...he felt so different, it was almost...invigorating.

She was suddenly gone though, she had hopped down to a house and had slipped inside of it. Shale came to a halt on the rooftop before her house, scaling down a rain pipe before examining a window. This was an assassin...a really...really strange one. Her house could not be something that he wanted to break into but...he was a spy. This would be easy right? He went to the window and took his dagger from the sheathe, slowly looking for the right spot. Ah...a latch...and something else? There was a wire attached to the latch. Oh...that was evil.

He pushed the latch out of the spot, and lifted the window slightly before reaching in and cutting the wire, but holding it. He had keep the wire taught...because he could see the small crossbow that would trigger if there was slack. However, he stayed to the side of the wall as he crept inside. Then he let go of the wire and let the bolt shoot out the open window. Sure it made a twang, but there was no point in hiding his approach. The first thing he did was get to his hands and knees...trip wires...yes...and...a board that looked a little stiffer than most.

Oh she was evil. How did she even live here? Shale was careful, stepping over the wires, and avoiding the board that obviously had a pressure plate. He could hear where she was...and he made his way to the study. Well, he didn't know it was a study though...but he poked his head into the doorway. "H-hi. Uhm...you need to reload the crossbow guarding your window."

[Anonymous]

"I know. I heard you come in." Her chair spun so the small assassin could watch Shaleus. "If this was an actual mission, you would have been dead." She snorted. "Sloppy. Amateur. Here I was thinking your precious Academy would have pounded stealth into you." Sure she was being harsh but she needed to do something to get the guy out of what appeared to be a perpetual state of fear and anger was a good a path as any.

"I would have at least thought that you'd want to try and scare me a bit, if nothing else than for payback." She removed his dagger from the spare sheath she kept it in. "You want your dagger back? Take it." She threw it in his direction, aiming at the door frame just inches to the side of his head. Hopefully he wouldn't freak out too much at it.

She stared at him across the desk for a few seconds. "You're pathetic, you know that? You're scared far too easily. To do that, you'll need to experience some pretty hairy stuff. I can help with that." Her smile wasn't too pleasant. "You'll just have to trust me." She really hoped the 'smile' she showed him wasn't that heartening.

The chair squeaked a little as she stood up. "As I said before, you can stay here while you work on getting better and I'll 'help' you with controlling your fear." As she made her way around the desk, she motioned to the shelves of books lining two of the walls. "You can also use the books I have here. I've books on both lethal and non-lethal concoctions, fighting styles, customs, just about anything I'd need to carry out business." She stopped a few feet in front of him and crossed her arms.

"So, what do ya say? Stay here and learn how to truly excel at infiltration or go back to scrounging around for crap jobs?"

[Anonymous]

"H-hey! It's not like I n-needed to be quiet, y-you knew I'd be c-coming." If this was an actual mission he'd have not let the crossbow go off, and probably would have done a few things a little better. Maybe. He was damn good for what he did usually, but he didn't think he needed to be quiet! And now she was berating him, though that he was pretty much used to from everyone back at the Academy, and everyone here. People liked to yell at him, and he usually just shrugged it off at this point.


"P-pay back? T-that's for assassins and e-emotionally invested p-people." Sure, he was somewhat emotionally invested, but he never did revenge. When people cheated or swindled him, he just...went about his business. He'd move on and forget about it, try to earn some more money. That was the-HOSHADOWS! He hadn't been paying any attention at all to her talking or the dagger that she suddenly threw with precision at the door frame beside him. He jumped, literally, upwards, grabbing onto the door frame at the other side. Luckily he hadn't disappeared into the wall, or left his clothes suddenly. No, he looked more like a frightened cat trying to get away from something on the ground.

He breathed a sigh of relief and let go, retrieving his dagger before looking to her. More insults. Of course she'd say more insults. He ignored most of them as he put his dagger away, happy to have it back where it belonged. "I d-don't...t-think I can t-trust you." Already she had sneaked up behind, taken his clothes, taken his dagger, made him run all over with her...yeah, there was no way he would be able to trust him. The smile was kind of creepy too, made his blood go cold.

However, she raised some very interesting points, and tempted him with some very interesting offers. Books of knowledge...he bit his lip as he thought about it. It had been a while since he had read up on things like this...these people no doubt had some very interesting fight styles...and she was willing to help him.

For what end though...he didn't really know.

"...What...What's in it for you?" He asked carefully, his eyes upon her. She had to get something out of this. What would it be though? What would this woman gain from making him a better spy?

[Anonymous]

"It's simple. I get you. I train you in the ways that I know and you do the same to me. In this way, we both get better." There were other reasons as well, of course. Any easy jobs she didn't want to do could be passed on to him or, if she couldn't get his stomach up to killing, use him as a scout. Having a pair of eyes that could flit through a building without having to deal with pesky things like walls would be extremely helpful in finding out guard paths and where the target was. She wouldn't tell him those reasons though. Not yet. Ghosty was far too soft to be willing to directly help her on contracts. He would have to be eased in to it.

All of that would start in the morning. They'd been on the road all day and scampering along the rooftops hadn't done anything positive for her energy level. "Feel free to explore the house to familiarize yourself with it and to find a place to sleep." Ceria reached up to pat his shoulder as she passed him in the doorway. "Just be careful. I can't guarantee you won't find some surprises. We'll get to work in the morning."