See Spot Run [M]

[kleineklementine]

Spot bit her lip, but she didn't look away. The intensity of the sustained eye contact at their table would probably garner attention if it went on for too long. "Why are you telling me this?" she finally asked. Then added dryly, even managing the best 'winning smile' she could muster, "I'm guessing it's not just because I'm so darn adorable."

[visualspice]

Actually, it just might have been the very reason. He had grown accustomed to some of the quirky, cuteness that made up some of the population of women when he was spending more time with his unfortunate fake fiance, Lady Beirne. Something about her mannerisms just made him react that way, and he wasn't sure he could explain why.

"To give you a fair chance." A fair chance at what? He didn't know, but he wasn't sure if he would completely let such an easy target get away. Not for the kind of cash she was worth. But she hardly seemed dangerous. Most of the men he killed (and he tended to prefer to kill men), were anything but innocent of nature. But something about this woman struck him as different, but he couldn't quite but his finger on it.

[kleineklementine]

Spot actually laughed at that; an unexpected laugh that started off something like a scoff and ended with her looking half-believingly at him, a shadow of a smile on her half-opened mouth. (In between it was also a laugh!) It was just too ridiculous. This was actually happening. She stared at him like that for a moment, then nodded, straightening herself up.

"Well, I say, very sporting of you, ol' chap!" she declared in her best Rich Tosser voice; one of her standards. "What a stand-up gent! Here," she poured picked up the bottle of wine and poured a glass for him, then one for herself. Now that the situation was clear, they may as well have a drink first! "So then, Mr. L'isson," she she said, switching into a Very Serious Business voice and posture, but there was still the faint hint of an utterly disbelieving oh-fuck-it-this-is-real smile on her face, " here's to fair chances and a good run," she clinked her glass to his and took a drink of the wine.

"Tell me, do I get a head start?"

[visualspice]

Jarrett lamely held the glass as they clinked. His eyes still remained placid and glued to hers.
"You already have."

[kleineklementine]

"Hm." Spot looked across at Jarrett. He'd already given her a headstart. That was true. And Spot had stuck around like an idiot. What was she thinking. Keeping her eyes level with him, she took a long drink from the wine glass. "I guess you're right. You have already."

Spot frowned. What now? Just then she noticed the sommelier was making eyes at her again. Maybe Spot had done herself a favor, asking for something stronger... "Well, you'll let me have another drink, right?" Spot asked, flashing him a pretty, helpless little smile. Spot reached across to pick up the bottle to pour herself another glass then, glancing quickly to verify that she had the sommelier's attention, she knocked over the bottle, spilling the wine all over Jarrett's chest and lap.

Spot leapt up, covering her mouth. "Oh! I'm so clumsy! I'm so sorry! I-"

But before Spot could even finish her exclamation, the sommelier had rushed over to the table. "Sir! How can I help? Oh, we'll get some towels, some," he waved wildly over to the busboys, who rushed over with arms full of towels. A small circus was circling around Jarrett now, trying to dry the wine off of his jacket and trousers. "We'll get you a new jacket, of course, sir! Maybe your friend-"

But in the commotion surrounding Jarrett, Spot had disappeared. And just when it didn't seem it could get more chaotic, one of the busboys stopped to inspect Jarrett's bag, the one containing Mr. Arrendale. "Oh, sir, I think there's wine on you bag, too. I'll just-" but he frowned as he tried to lift it. Suspiciously heavy!

...

Spot, meanwhile, was already on the street, moving quickly through the evening crowds away from the guesthouse!

[visualspice]

Jarrett wasn't entirely sure how the events came to be, but there he was sitting, with a lap and chest full of wine. He only frowned, and that frown deepened as all of the staff began to fuss over him. Though as they worked at dabbing him off, promising new clothing and this and that-t he second someone's hand found his bag, Jarrett's hand shot out and gripped the man's wrist roughly.

"The bag'll be fine. It's just a bag." And the look he was going made the helper freeze in shock. Terror gripped him and when Jarrett finally released his arm, he stumbled away, stood gaping before his boss ushered him away. And as the sommelier went on asking about the price of his garb, Jarrett simply rose with a frown, puffing out cigar smoke trough his nostrils before hefting the bag over his shoulder.

"There's no need for that. I was only here to enjoy a few drinks with a ..."a nd here he paused to think over his choice of phrasings when he realized the woman had gone. He frowned and added the words, "'Friend'". THankfully he hadn't been dumb enough to say fiance. That lie already got him in a world of trouble.

Waving the men off, he simply turned from the 'scene of the crime' and pushed the door open to the place and walked away, leaving the sommelier and everyone else utterly, utterly confused.

[kleineklementine]

Spot wove through the evening streets of Arca, not going so fast that she'd draw attention, but she certainly didn't dawdle! What was she going to do? Part of her just wanted to bolt - get out of Arca tonight! But where would she go? It was a bogus idea and she knew it. Maybe, though, she could join one of the caravan troupes that wandered the countryside trading. There was one in Arca now, she knew, but could she trust that there'd be no assassins amongst them? Spot didn't know is Jarrett L'isson had been contracted, or if there was a general mark out on her. Well, maybe she would go to the traders' market tomorrow and see, but tonight Spot just wanted to hide. Hole up somewhere and regain her wits.

Just then she was passing the university library. Spot paused. She was still a Nice Young Lady; she could be a university student. Plus the university library and collections... it was a huge building! Full of places to hide and disappear. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure the assassin hadn't caught up with her, Spot turned and walked confidently into the library. It would close relatively soon, and she needed to hide herself away somewhere. Then she should be able to weather the night in relative safety.

Even though Spot's mind was obviously occupied, she couldn't help but be impressed when she entered the library. It was a huge building, ornately decorated, and full to the gills of high shelves, plush reading rooms, and other side rooms and hideaways housing the university's collections of academia and oddities. It wasn't hard to disappear into the maze of the library and to disappear into the tall stacks when the library emptied and closed.

Spot was tired, but she was also curious, and now she had the whole university library to herself. She hadn't had the benefit of an education - a decent one or otherwise! - and though she could read, struggled with the books in the room she'd hid in. So she walked, hands clapped behind her back, through the library, taking in the art and statues and impressive looking tomes and architecture. Finally, she found her way into a circular room that had, in its center, a globe so big it was several feet taller than Spot and was covered in countries near, that she recognized, and mysterious landmasses far away. The walls of the room were floor-to-ceiling glass cases holding large minerals and gems, and strange skeletons and shells. Spot stared at the globe, circling it with wide, wonder-filled purple eyes.

"Maybe I'll start my new life here," she muttered to herself, looking at a far and distant landmass, covered with artistic representations of palm trees and green mountains.

[visualspice]

Had she inquired to the assassin, he would have told her there was a general mark, and that he wasn't the only one aware of it. Whether he was to actively pursue her was really up to him, and he already had some corpse in a bag to deal with, so Spot was really not on the fore front of his mind as he hefted the corpse from one shoulder to the other, and began to make his way through the streets, puffing away at the remains of his cigar.

He spotted a few Soot Wolves here or there, but they left him alone, simply observing him and whispering among themselves. But it was not the Soot Wolves that concerned him, but a certain figure he caught out of the edge of his eyes-
a certain fellow assassin he had the pleasure to run into at one time or another, a certain Jade Avue. Jade was a Lord in the highest regard that took pleasure in the hunt and kill. He was not entirely new to the assassin career, but he was definitely a man he knew many others were wary of. Not only was he an assassin by nightly trade- but he was also a killer. He tended to focus on women, and pretty women, and once he had his fill of them, and his mental cravings went from lust of bodies to lust of bones- he'd kill them- simple as that, and collected their bones.

Finding out about Spot's mark had Jade Avue curious, and finding himself bored of his usual whores, he took to the streets and clung to the shadows. He had spotted someone that looked similar to his mark, but lost her somewhere int he library. But he had a hunch she was still there.
But Jade and Spot weren't the only ones stuck in the university after hours, for Jarrett decided to follow after Jade, to see what the criminal Lord was up to, when suddenly his awkward shaped bag got stuck on the edge of a displayed skeleton's foot, and snagged intot he burlap and  began to teeter over.

Whirling around, the assassin lunged out to catch the skeleton into his arms, bridal style, and managed to save the skeleton from any damage, but his corpse bag swung awkwardly from his shouler, threatening to spill off his arm, and the jerking motion from that was enough to decapitate the skeleton as the skull fell off and tumbled to a roll across the floor, all the way over to where it stopped in it's roll at Spot's feet.
And there it remained, two hollowed eyes looking up at her in endless wonder.

[kleineklementine]

Spot literally jumped straight into the air when she heard the skeleton fall. She was the only one in here! Her first thought was, embarrassingly, of ghosts and ghouls in a place like this. When she came back down, though, Spot landed right on the skull, sending it spiraling towards into the air and sending Spot falling head over heel.

She landed with an audible 'oof' with her back on the floor. She cursed when she looked over top of her own toppled form to see Jarrett cradling the skeleton. Well, fuck.

Spot gave a nervous laugh, looking up at Jarrett. "Come on, now. You're passing me over for her? She doesn't even got a head!" she asked with a nod to the decapitated skeleton.

Despite her jest, though, Spot's heart was pounding. What was she going to do now?

[visualspice]

It probably did look ridiculous from her angle- considering Jarrett was draped from head to two with now TWO dead people, while the living, breathing (and much more attractive) woman was left to fall painfully onto her ass. Though in his defense, even if he would have been there to catch her, it would seem he was too far away from even considering such a feat, and he stared at her a moment, cigar smoke puffing through his nostrils before he moved to untangle himself frm the skeleton (which proved to be a vastly more difficult task than it seemed), since in the process, he yanked the right arm off of it, and gave it a stare as it rotated awkwardly at the wrist, and settled into a small, wilted swinging motion before he simply tossed the dislocated bony arm aside.
The rest of the skeleton, however, he neatly hung back onto it's post-
well, as neatly as he could, fr it now hung awkwardly, like some coat on it's hanger before he turned to observe Spot on the floor.

And he wasted no time in slowly crossing the distance between them as he picked up the skull by her boot then offered her out a hand.
"Someone's followed you here," he told her plainly, though by the tone of it, it was obvious it wasn't him. Well, him, or the skull,.. or his... you know, bagged dead guy.

[kleineklementine]

Spot scrambled to her feet, most definitely not taking Jarrett's hand. Scuttling backwards to put more distance between them, Spot circled around to the other side of the globe. She really didn't understand what this man was after. If he were going to kill her, couldn't he be, well, more aggressive about it? So she at least knew that was what was going on? Instead he kept giving her warnings, and Spot couldn't help but wonder if anyone had followed her in at all. Probably he was just trying to get her to trust him!

Spot didn't realize that she'd kept backing up until she bumped into a display pedestal. It rocked, but didn't fall over. But Spot's hand came down on something... She glanced away from Jarrett just long enough to look. There on the pedestal was a GIANT tooth! Triangular and jagged and serrated and the size of an axe! Spot had no idea what it was, but she swiftly picked it up, holding it out in front of her like it was a sword or, at least, a dagger.

"Good thing I'm armed then," she said with a faux-confident (but-obviously-terrified) laugh. "I'd like to see some lowly assassin get through this... this... Death Tooth! That's right. Beware Spot, wielder of the Great Fang of Suffering. Just you... try and come closer! I'll tooth you to bits!"

[visualspice]

Jarrett stared at her, more curious than impressed. But as he studied the way she held it, he merely told her, "You're holding it wrong." And then he pointed out, "And the blade looks dull." And at such an accusation, he gave a curious tilt of his head. Yeah, it at least looked dull from here.
"You could use it to bludgeon someone to death." And he remove his cigar he had been speaking through and flicked the ash aside. "Do you know how to bludgeon someone?" And somehow that made him frown. She looked awfully scrawny to be able to do something like that.

[kleineklementine]

"Hey! How do you know? Are you a Death Tooth master?" Spot responded quickly and defensively, but frowned at her megatooth. "It's not for slicing it's for... jabbing!" She made a few jerky steps forward, jabbing the Death Tooth awkwardly in the air (but at least in the direction of Jarrett). "See? You don't  know anything about how to properly wield a great weapon like this! It's not about big slashy brute force stuff, this is a stealth weapon!"

But as soon as she made this proud declaration (though she sounded quite dubious about it herself), Spot scurried backwards again in retreat from the small advance she made. If the situation was too serious for such joking, Spot didn't seem to realize it. Serious situations, she was sure, were the ones that required the most joking!

Or, maybe, Spot just didn't know what else to do.

She frowned at him from her new 'safe' distance, as though she could read his poor assessment of her. "Well, no, maybe not," she admitted, her anxiousness painfully obvious "but I'm not a 'bludgeoning' type. I'm more of a 'fly like a butterfly, sting like a... Death Tooth' kind of fighter."

What Spot really was was a 'run-like-the-fucking-wind' type, but right now Jarrett was blocking the only exit from the room. Still, she glanced over his shoulder, assessing whether or not a sudden break was an option.

[visualspice]

Jarrett continued to assess her, puffing away at his cigar as he moved to adjust the weight of the corpse on his shoulder, but it was beginning to hurt. The damn dead dude was incredibly heavy, and with a frown, he moved to place the corpse over his other shoulder when a knife glinted through the air- one landing incredibly close to the display nearest Spot, wobbling to a halt where it was sunk into the wooden support beams- when two more glinting objects flew through the air- one- landed painfully through Jarrett's hand, while the last one cut into the corpse's bag, ripping open a hole big enough the dead man's hand came tumbling out. And all Jarrett could do, was stare at his now bleeding hand as the blade shined red with his blood.

[kleineklementine]

WHAT?!

The blades whizzed by - one clipping a lock of Spot's hair - and Spot stood open mouthed. Then, reacting faster than she would have guessed, she curled the megatooth as hard as she could at the unseen adversary in the darkness of the hall. Much to Spot's surprise, the sound of ancient-tooth-hitting-fesh and a muffled curse suggested that the tooth actually hit its mark!

"Yeah! That's right!" Spot called into the darkness not unlike a little dog yipping at a much more Dangerous Animal. "I got more teeth where that came from! I got a whole mouth full of 'em!"

Wait! What was she doing?! Suddenly realizing the danger she was obviously in, Spot hurriedly threw herself behind the 'safety' of the globe. At least another blade - thrown from the hall - wouldn't reach her here. Another blade didn't come, though, but what did that mean? That the unseen enemy was dead, or regrouping?

"Who was that?!" Spot demanded in a hissed whisper, peeking around the globe at Jarrett. Then she saw his hand for the first time and she startled and declared unehlpfully. "Your hand! You're bleeding!"

[visualspice]

Where as Spot was so enthralled with her successful hit, Jarrett's eyes suddenly tore away from his bleeding hand as they peered over his shoulder, ears listening intently, even through the woman's yippy cries of victory. And when his eyes stopped, so did the sounds he had been following. And though she had only then gasped over his hand, Jarrett saw the flick of something else in the dark and told her flatly, "Move." As another knife came sailing straight at her head. A second one was thrown at Jarrett, but this time he jerked aside as it flew right past him- clattering into the dark.

[kleineklementine]

Spot leapt forward just in time to miss the blade whizzing through the sky. How was that possible? she thought. Wasn’t their assailant outside the room? “Why are you helping me?” Spot hissed, a mix of fear, suspicion, and confusion plain on her features.

But before Jarrett would have a chance to answer, a strong arm grabbed Spot from behind and she found herself pulled roughly backwards. She was pinned now against the hard chest of a man she couldn’t see and before she could struggle and try to escape - she had big plans of biting the bastard - she felt a small, cold blade against her throat. Spot went stiff, and still. (Spot wouldn't be able to see it, but Mr. Jade Avue sported a nice, Death Tooth-shaped black eye.)

“Well, well, didn’t this work out much more nicely?” a cold voice cooed in her ear. “Pretty thing you are, it’d have been a shame to strike you down from so far away. I much prefer to work,” she felt his grip on her tighten, “up close.”

Spot’s heart was racing now, a cold fear spreading rapidly from her stomach. No way. This was not how she was going to go. The reason Spot had joined the Soot Wolves was so she wouldn’t have to deal with creeps like this. Like any girl who grew up poor and desperate, Spot had the quick ability to pick out the sick men who would take you somewhere dark and slice you into pieces. And Spot did not want to be sliced into pieces by some creepy creeper!

“You’re getting sloppy, Mr. L’isson,” the unseen voice said haughtily. He began moving backwards, Spot’s body flush to his. But it seemed he wasn’t going to miss this chance to gloat. “It’s always amazed me you hit any mark at all, to be honest. But with these snake-like women, you can’t let them talk too much, you know. The tongue is the first thing that has to go.”

As he said this, Spot was tracking the distance between them and the globe. And at his last remark, she decided to take a risk and put all her weight and strength into leaping backwards, sending her and the unseen assassin crashing into the glass case that was now not so far behind them. Shattered glass went everywhere as they continued backwards, slamming into the carefully manicured mineral display it had protected. In the fall, the man’s knife had slipped and cut Spot just below her jaw bone, but missed any of her vital arteries. The glass, meanwhile, had smashed into the head of her assailant, who cursed loudly, and Spot was now covered in her own blood and his. But when his head smacked against a giant quartz crystal, his grip loosened and Spot sprang forward.

The man’s hand grabbed her ankle before she could get away, though, causing Spot to crash onto the glass-strewn floor.

[visualspice]

And that's when Jarrett stepped in between them- yanking the knife from his hand and crouching down over the bleeding form of Jade. He could feel his own warm blood dribbling down his hand and falling down in spots over the man's shirt beneath him, and a thousand versions of Jarrett came sweeping underneath Jade's form, reflecting in the sea of broken glass as Jarrett stood over him and between he and Spot as his none bloodied hand gripped violently onto Jade's wrist, while his bloodied hand smashed onto a tight, venomous grip to his face.

And he muttered something, something Jade did not quite catch as the other would be assassin jerked back within his grip. But even as Jade found himself free of Jarrett's hold, the blood from the Lone Wolf was already smeared onto his face, and the words already uttered, and suddenly, the blood on Jade's face erupted into flames and the man let out a blood curdling scream.

[kleineklementine]

Spot hastened to crawl further away, putting more distance between herself and the I’m-Going-To-Slice-You-Up-Creeper when Jarrett intervened. She didn’t make it too far, though, before she turned to see what was transpiring between the two assassins. She watched with a mixture of confusion and admiration as Jarrett dealt with Jade. The assassin, his entire head engulfed in flames, stumbled to his feet. In a bout of strength brought on by the sheer adrenaline pumping through the crazed man’s body, he shoved Jarrett aside and, still screaming, ran headlong out of the room. Looking, maybe, for a way to douse the flames that were consuming him.

It wasn’t to be, though. Because, as the man fled, his foot fell on an unseen object - the Death Tooth, which still lay on the floor outside of the circular globe room - and threw him off his balance. Spot watched in wide-eyed horror as the flaming torch of a man’s body flew forward and disappeared over the banister to the entrance hall. The light grew further away until - thud - they heard the sick sound of the body landing on the cold marble floor of the library below.

Spot was frozen for several moments, still sprawled and bloody on the glass-strewn floor, listening for the sound of jade Azue rising. But no such sound came. Painfully, Spot picked herself up into a half-sitting position. But she nearly passed out when she looked down at her arms. They were cut and bloodied from the glass, with one particularly large shard of glass still embedded in her right forearm. Swallowing the faint feeling, Spot carefully withdrew the large piece of glass, wincing sharply as she did. As soon as it was out, blood poured from the laceration and Spot immediately clamped her left hand down over the deep cut. It would need stitches… well, if, that was, Spot made it through the night. Or though that hour.

And that was when her mind turned back to the other dangerous assassin, the one who was still in the room with her.

Spot twisted around to face Jarrett, still on the floor, still holding tightly onto her right arm, blood oozing through the fingers of her left. “I guess it must be quite a lot, my mark,” she said with a breathy, nervous laugh, “for you to go through all this trouble. Just...” here Spot pulled a face, "don't barbeque me, okay? I don't want to loose my looks."

[visualspice]

Jarrett turned to regard Spot now with a blink. By now, the cigar was practically a nub, and he frowned through it.
"Mr. Allendale was worth more," he told her simply, then tossed the cigar nub from his mouth and crushed it under his boot heel. "Besides, I have no plans to barbecue you." He said, frowning at repeating her choice of words.