Under a Blood Moon [Xphy]

[GoblinFae]

A wolf raised its voice in a song of mourning that its brothers soon joined in on. Ahead of her the prey shook and cried out in fear before tearing off recklessly through the woods. The woman who watched him from above smirked, her red eyes glinting in the moonlight, looking like the dying embers of a fire.

'They always run and in the wrong direction too. Foolish prey, it is not the wolf you should fear here.' The assassin rose slowly from her perch on the branch. Taking one peaceful moment to look up at the moon and smile, she was off like an arrow from the bow. She dropped to the soft moss-covered floor below and tread on swift but silent feet.

The leaves of autumn had already begun to fall. But, while her adversary made no effort to avoid them, Tiraris sprinted around them as if they were not even there. Her hood slid down freeing waist-length waves of crimson locks. The wind's cold fingers gently tugged and whipped it out behind her like a a spray of blood, a reminder of what was soon to come.

Her pace slowed as she boxed the man in between a thick copse of trees and an unclimbable stone wall. 'Well unclimbable for him at least. I could manage that. Such a pity, I was hoping for more of a challenge.' Even as she neared the man had begun to plead and beg, naming family, children, and good deeds done as his excuses for why his life should be prolonged. It was all for naught as Tiraris' ears were deaf to all but the singing of her blade as it was released from its home at her side.

She took one more moment to pause and observe this man. Standing in the shadows of the trees and out of sight, she waited. But, still the man continued to blubber until at last he collapsed on the ground in a sniveling mess. 'Pathetic! Men are weak. This one is not even worth the hunt. The client is going to have to give me double to pay for my wasted time. I am not pleased.' Her hand clenched cruelly around the hilt leaving a painful impression on her palm. 'I should leave him to the wolves. But, even they deserve better than his filth.'

[Xphy]

A wolf, huh?

Unknown to both the assassin and her prey they were being watched; watched by an observer who was much closer than either of them could ever expect. Tische had had her eyes on the two ever since they had started their little chase, mainly on the man though his pursuer had also drawn her interest as well. It seemed that she wasn't the only one after his life, and for the contractor sake she hoped that he hadn't hired her as well.

That would not have sat well with the dark elf at all...

She hadn't shown herself quite yet choosing to remain in the shadows for the time being, though in an entirely different sense than the other assassin. Where the woman merely used the shade casted by the trees against the moonlight as a veil Tische literally stood within the darkness, traversing it through the use of her people's magic. It was simply the best method to approach her targets in her opinion, especially since she had never been fond of toying with her targets. It seemed that hadn't been the case with her would-be rival.

When the man began to beg for his life she finally decided to make her move, exiting the shadows atop one of the tree branches directly above the other assassin. She didn't make any sudden movements as to not reveal herself to either of them just yet. Instead she simply held her hand in front of her body and formed her magic into a small crystal, refining it until it took the shape of a throwing dagger. Once she was satisfied with the sharpness of its edge she smirked and intentionally adjusted her cloak to at the very least draw the attention of the woman below her.

"Sorry girl, but this one's life belongs to me," she called out lowly before tossing the dagger in the man's direction, striking him in the abdomen. It was a clean hit, not enough to outright kill him, but that hadn't been her intent in the first place. She only wanted to injure him enough to keep him from getting too far if he decided to run again. Her main focus was on the woman, watching her carefully to see what she would do next. There was no telling what she would do next, and the dark elf wanted to be ready if she tried to do something violent.

[GoblinFae]

The leaves above her rustled in the wind, or so she thought. Tiraris' careless assumption nearly cost her her life. The definite rustle and movement of fabric from the tree limbs had the assassin diving to the side. When the sound of metal tearing through soft flesh did not precede blinding pain, Tiraris raised her gaze to find the target and not herself the unfortunate one.

'You are getting lazy! Whoever that is could have killed you before you knew something was wrong. He went for the target and not me. Either I am not deemed a threat, foolish, or I am sharing a mark, unacceptable.'

"You can have his worthless life! I lay claim on his death," she hissed, recklessly charging forward. She kept a side and her back to the woods, mahogany eyes darting between prey and predator. It would take three steps from the edge of the woods to get to the open where the dying man was. Another seven would carry Tiraris back into the relative shelter of the forest.

But, as she neared the beginning of those three crucial steps, Tiraris made a last ditch effort to defend herself. As her right hand latched onto the hilt of her sword her left snatched up a dagger and threw it blindly towards where she assumed the other assassin to be. The heavy thunk of it sinking into something brought her no thrill of pride. 'This is not over yet. Ten suns says that was the tree.' She was determined to make the kill herself, but moreso to not get herself killed.

[Xphy]

There was something about the other assassin's retort that brought an amused smiled to Tische's lips. It seemed the girl had a sense of humor; she had to if she thought she would let her take her target from her. Issues with the contractor aside the dark elf had a reputation to protect, one she wouldn't allow to be tarnished so easily. Not to mention she had no intention of giving her mistress any room to criticize her.

The brat would never let her hear the end of it...

As she had expected the other assassin would react with violence, tossing a knife in her direction. In response she simply faded back into the shadows cast by the tree's leaves, the dagger's blade only finding the trunk to pierce. "And here I was hoping we could do this easy way," she sighed, her voice seemingly coming from all directions at once as it seeped out of the surrounding shadows. She also kept her eyes on the girl, watching her every move to see what she did next before.

When she made her move toward the target Tische took action, shifting her focus from the assassin herself to the shadow her body casted in the moonlight. With a simple flick of her wrist a thin black tendril rose from the shadow and whipped through the air in an attempt to wrap around the girl's left leg. The dark elf had no intention of letting the woman reach her target, at least not until she had personally taken his head. After that she really didn't care what the girl decided to do.

For now though she would continue to observe the girl from the safety of the shadows, watching her careful just in case she had any other tricks up her sleeves. She already knew the girl was pretty handy with a throwing dagger, and would be ready for that if she tried to off her mark with another one. It was what she didn't know that was concerned about. Rarely did assassins only have one trick up their sleeves, especially the good ones.

[GoblinFae]

At the second step, Tiraris was suddenly jerked down and backwards. The loss of her footing sent her crashing to the ground and landing on her shoulder as she tried to roll into the fall. The surprise and pain at the shock made her hiss and growl as she struggled to her feet.

The assassin knew she was a sitting duck and that this was far more dangerous than anything else. There was another predator out in these woods after her prey and now, possibly herself as well. Making a quick decision she choose to feint a retreat. 'The further I get from the target the more comfortable the other will be. If I can figure out where he is I can rethink a new plan of action.'

Grunting as she at last bounced to her feet, Tiraris grabbed her aching shoulder and ran to the other side of the woods, giving the dying man a large berth as she passed him. Her retreat was loud before she at last let herself be quiet and double back a bit. 'The voice was everywhere. Where could he be? In the trees but which one?' The assassin had to grit her teeth to keep from running back out there headfirst into a possible trap. 'One kill, that is all it would take to be done with all this. Then, this upstart has to get in my way.'

She was impatient to spill hot blood, but also in her right mind enough to choose her own life over the prey's death. 'Why commit the kill at all? You get the money either way. It is a matter of honor. You mean pride. I am not prideful. You are!' Furious with herself and with the situation, it took everything Tiraris had not to stamp her foot in irritation. 'If I wait and the assassin appears, I can do something then. And if he does not appear? Then I will go home and collect the payment.' She ignored how the last thought left a bitter taste on her tongue and focused instead on any movement in the treeline.

[Xphy]

((OoC: Sorry about taking so long with this post.))

A pleased smirk crossed Tishe's lips as the other assassin decided to turn and run. She had always hated being forced to kill people she didn't have to, assassin or not. It was too messy for her taste. Her smirk would fade however when the girl turned around and began sneak her way back. Clearly she still didn't understand the situation they were both in, and her persistence was slowly beginning to irritate the dark elf.

Maybe it was time to try a different tactic.

With a sigh she cautiously stepped out of the shadows near her target, blatantly looking in the direction of the other assassin from underneath her hood. "Alright kiddo I know you're still out there, so don't do anything stupid," she called, ignoring the bleeding man in front of her for now. He was in no condition to pose a threat to her, and there were far more important matters to attend to at the moment.

"Look, I could have killed you already if I had wanted to and I'm sure you're aware of it by now," she continued, her hand resting on her weapon just in case the girl tried something. Hopefully she wasn't too unreasonable. If she was then things were about to get complicated. "But I haven't, and honestly I would prefer not to since it's neither of our faults that were in this position." It was the contractor's and she planned to make the man pay for it.

"Now come out so we can come to some kind of agreement."

[GoblinFae]

(OOC: No worries ^.^ Glad you're back)

'Damn it!' Tiraris was kicking herself at being found out so easily. Yet, there was something about this other assassin that made her want to smile. It was not the first time she had been stuck in this position where more than one person had been sent to take out a target. But, she had thought that she was past that now since she had become a known terror in the circles she walked.

Cautious but not concerned of a trap, the assassin exited the shadows she had been residing in and leaned against a tree. "You caught me," she chuckled, raising her hands in apparent surrender. "What kind of agreement would you have me come to? We both have a job to do and are in each other's way. As you said, I too am not interested in killing you. But, that still does not change where we stand and I do not make deals with my competition. What can you offer that would change that now?"

Tiraris was watching the other figure closely. As relaxed as her posture suggested she was completely ready to spring if need be. While she knew she could have ended up dead earlier, she was not going to do so now. Fully aware of the other made her job at staying alive easier. However, it was her curiosity that kept her in place and playful. She was truly interested in hearing what the other would say for this one seemed different than all the rest. 'Perhaps this one will actually provide a bit of fun for once.'

[Xphy]

Tische's eyes never left the girl's location as she came out into the open. She knew better than to take any chances when dealing with a fellow assassin. Giving them even an inch could be detrimental to your health. Fortunately this one didn't seem to be up to anything; at least not yet anyway. You never could be too sure in these sorts of situations though, and it was always better to be safe than sorry. So her left hand would remain on Shraret underneath her cloak just in case she needed it.

"You mean aside from leaving here in one piece?" she asked casually, pausing briefly to motion toward the girl before speaking again. "I've actually been watching the entire time you were toying with this guy, and to be honest you seem like you're quite competent. But like you said only one of us can claim this kill, and I don't know about you but I don't appreciate being put into these kinds of situations by my clients." The potential of other assassins being after her targets was information she expected all of her clients to give her, regardless of whether they hired them or not.

This one had clearly failed to do that. But that she would have to resolve later. For now there was this mess to resolve.

"So how about this. I don't know what exactly you were told, but the terms of my contract were to bring back this man's head. You can kill him if you want, but I want his head."

[GoblinFae]

Tiraris considered the proposal but, could not find any reason why the agreement would not work. 'Provided of course this person does what they say they will do. Well if I get duped I can always hunt them both down. Nothing quite like a good game of cat and mouse.'

"Then it seems we may actually reach an accord. My contract was his death and the retrieval of something on his person. If it is only his head you are after then feel free to make the kill. I am only here to loot it." There was more to it than that of course, but Tiraris was no fool. There was no way she would share any more private information with her competition than she had to.

She had decided to wait in the safety of the shadows. 'Better alive and needing to catch up then close up and dead.' The assassin would much rather sit and observe the other than to experience a close encounter. "Do this work with you? Or must we lower ourselves to actually fight with each other?"

[Xphy]

Tische continued to watch the other assassin carefully, unsure of what to think. She had been so persistent about killing her target earlier, and here she now was telling her she could do the honors. It was a both odd and suspicious to the dark elf, but whatever floated her boat. She would be prepared just in case the girl was up to something though. You never could be too safe when dealing with assassins.

"If that is what you wish," she replied with a shrug before shifting her gaze back to the wounded man, ignoring his pleas. The contractor wanted his head and she wanted her payment, and if this man had to die in order for both to get what they wanted then so be it. That simply was the nature of her job. She didn't know why the contractor wanted him dead, only that he did and that was enough for her.

With a single swipe of her arm the deed was done, a thin blade made from the shadows in her sleeve separating his head from the rest of his body. Normally Tische would have used Shraret to do job, but with the girl watching her she decided against it. There was no reason to show her all of her secrets, especially since she didn't know what kind of game she was playing.

As she secured the decapitated head the dark elf turned to face the other assassin again to gauge her reaction. "There, now I have what I wanted and you have what you wanted," she continued, cautiously turning to leave. She did not however. There was something she needed to get out of the way first, if only to have an excuse in the event a certain someone asked about it

"Hm... tell me, do you always work alone?"

[GoblinFae]

The woman smirked to herself and remained put. "Well I cannot say I work alone because I just worked with you now, did I not?" Tiraris shrugged. "Now shoo," she tiredly waved her hand in the other's direction. "You have what you want and I have yet to retrieve what I want. We can both now go about our business and no longer interfere in each other's lives."

Tiraris was growing impatient now. She was irritated that they had both been sent to do the same job and wanted to find out why. She also did not care for the other's probing questions. The former noble was no fool, she knew how to guard her words when she tried. "Surely you want to run along and find out why we were both sent for the same kill. It is rather unsporting to have competition on something so small and," she glared at the dead man, "pathetic"

[Xphy]

"Alright, alright. I get the picture," Tische sighed at the girl's comments. Apparently she was in a bad mood, not that the dark elf could really blame her. She was pretty angry about their situation herself. But at least Ily couldn't complain. She had made an effort, and that was all she could ask of her. "I was going to offer you a job in our guild, but you clearly aren't in the mood for talking so I'll leave you be.

"It's a shame really," she continued, securing the sack containing the man's head to her waist before turning away from her. "You seem surprisingly competent and kind of cute; for a human at least." The girl probably would have made a fine Shadow Dancer. But if she wasn't in a talking mood Tische wasn't about to wait around until she was.

[GoblinFae]

Tiraris' ears honed in on what the other was saying even as her eyes focused on the target instead. She almost snorted at the idea of being offered a job until she was pulled up short by being called cute. "What?" she sputtered, chuckling. "Cute? Hush your mouth. You go around saying that you will spoil my image. Nobody hires a cute assassin."

The assassin rolled her eyes and shook her head in an incredulous gesture of disbelief. 'Guild, should have known. Where is the fun in that? Put a bunch of backstabbers in the same room. Tell them they are "working" together. Chaos occurs, and it becomes a free for all. Bloody marvelous. Should have answered that I work alone. Reckless I may be, foolish even, but stupid I am not.'

When at last the other had left, Tiraris swooped down and claimed a parcel from the man's breast-pocket. It was small, wrapped in soft, worn leather and held in place with twine. Slipping it into a pouch at her side, the assassin took off once more, not caring for either the dead man or the contents of the package now that she had what she needed. 'The sooner I deliver, the sooner I can drink,' she thought, hurrying her paces to get back to town.

[Xphy]

The dark elf's trip back to town had been quick and uneventful, and she wouldn't have had it any other way. To be honest she had half expected the other assassin to have tried something on the way back, but fortunately that hadn't been the case. She would have hated to have to kill the girl, even if she had refused her offer.

There was no real incentive for her to do it.

 She had wasted very little time heading toward the tavern she had agreed to meet with her client. The sooner she got this over with the better. Then she would be able to get a few drinks into her system, and considering her current mood she needed them. Anything to take her mind off of this job and her bad luck.

From the moment she walked through the doors it was pretty clear to her that it wasn't exactly what anyone would call a reputable establishment. If there was one she was good at it was picking out a crook in a crowd, and judging from what she saw the place was full of them. The interior also had a particularly bad smell to it, as though no one had bothered to clean it in years. But that was nothing new to her. In fact she had seen worst. Some of the inns in Zantaric actually made the place look like it was fit for a king.

After taking a quick look around the room Tische managed to spot her client sitting at a table in the far corner, and after taking a deep breath she made her way toward him. As she neared the table she studied the scrawny man carefully. For the most part nothing stood out about his demeanor, at least not until he caught sight of her moving toward him. If her eyes hadn't deceived her he had flinched a bit, which to her meant he definitely had known about the other assassin. It was just the matter of whether he had actually hired her or not.

If he had it definitely wasn't going to end nicely for him.

Still she made a conscious effort not to show her anger to the man, at least not yet. Timing was everything after all. Instead she chose to remain neutral as she took a seat across from him, only nodding slightly as he looked her over before breaking the silence between them.

"Is the deed done?"

"Do you have the rest of my money?" she countered, leaning forward and placing her arms on the table. The man nodded before placing a brown change purse on the table in front of her, to which she did the same with the bag containing the man's head. She then reached for the purse examining its size, shape and weight careful. It seemed that he at least hadn't intended to stiff her on her payment. It wasn't enough for her to let him off of the hook though.

After securing the purse the dark elf gave the man a nod and he began to stand, assuming their transaction was done. But with a quick kick to the shin under the table the man was abruptly brought back into his chair against his will.

"Sorry but there is one more thing we need to discuss, and I think you know what..."

[GoblinFae]

Much to her aggravation, the assassin was detoured along the way as men came seeking her out for a job. The clamoring of the hordes only served to drive her closer to the edge today. Where other days she would few it all with amusement and let them fight it out, today all she wanted was to be done with work and then drink until she forgot what day it was.

After sending the rabble away with some concussions and broken appendages, Tiraris continued on her way to the inn her employer had specified he meet her in. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the dimly lit establishment that made her sneer in disgust. Tiraris' mood only darkened further as she caught sight of the man hiding in the shadows. 'Craven wimp,' her mind shouted as she made her way over to him.

It was only as she drew closer that she caught sight of the other person and nearly lost control of her inferno roiling inside. The assassin slowed her pace slightly to match her even breathing as she listened and waited. She recognized the other as the assassin from before and was interested in what the other would do.

"I could not agree more," she joined in, coming up behind the man and tossing the package down on the table in front of him so that he jumped. "Care to explain what you are up to?" Tiraris leaned forward so that she pressed up behind him and smiled sinisterly. One arm came across his chest as if to embrace him while the other wielded a dagger who's tip danced delicately across the skin of his throat. "You know a woman does not take kindly to being taken for a ride. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, dead men do not fool anyone. I am sure my new friend there would agree," she added gesturing her head to the other, as the knife danced lower and lower.

[Xphy]

"I do indeed, and I would like to know myself," Tische replied with a small nod. The appearance of the other assassin had done little to improve her mood. It was blatantly obvious to her what had transpired, and she didn't like it one bit. Clearly the man had hired her as well and judging from his reactions he hadn't expected to run into both of them at the same time, if at all. It was enough to make her want to kill him there and then, but that wouldn't accomplish much now would it?

She wanted answers, and she intended to get them.

The man had made no moves since the girl had placed her arms around, an she knew that he knew what kind of situation he was in. "For the record didn't exactly hire you to do the same job, and I intended to pay you both," he said, feigning his composure. Tische saw through it though. She also found what he had said a little odd. Had he not hired the other assassin to kill her mark? The girl's actions seemed to contradict that, although she had found it strange that she had given up the kill so willingly.

"Is that so?" she asked, folding her arms and leaning back in her chair. There had been more than a bit of irritation in her voice as she spoke, and her eyes wondered back and forth between the two humans trying to get a good read on either of them. "Care to explain?"

[GoblinFae]

Tiraris growled and dug the knife into tender flesh. "Cur! How can you say that when we were both sent to kill?"

"That's not true! The terms of our agreement was a retrieval for a payment-"
"By any means necessary, your exact words. Do not tell me you already forgot. Why hire two to do the job of one?"

The man tried to sneer but the sweat beading down his face ruined the image. "What can I say? I lost faith in you. I was told that you were discreet, efficient, and effective in your line of work. I must say I'm highly disappointed."

The assassin had to bite back her amusement as she stared down at the false bravado being displayed before her. "And pray tell how long exactly did you wait before you lost faith in me? An hour? Two? Not even a full day I bet. You could not even that could you?"

He paled and turned bulging eyes to the assassin sitting across from him. "You are not seriously going to let her do this are you? I paid you good money! Think of the money you could be earning working on other jobs for me. She's crazy! Don't just sit there, do something!"

[Xphy]

When the man asked for help Tische simply brought her hand to her chin and pretended to consider his words for a bit. There was no way in hell she was going to save him. He had screwed her over just as much as he had screwed over the girl. Besides what was this about retrieval? He had mentioned no such thing to her before.

"Sorry but my contract with you ended the moment you paid me," she chuckled, lowering her hand once more before leaning forward to give him a menacing glare. "Besides, I try not to make a habit of working for people like you. The whole lack of job security isn't exactly appealing.

"Just be glad I didn't kill you myself..."

Her attention then turned toward other assassin, her shoulders lowering casually. "Do what you wish with him," she sighed. Now that she knew what she wanted to know the man's life meant nothing to her, and while she would have preferred to take it herself she did kind of owe it to the girl. She had given her their target's life after all. "Consider this a service for earlier."

[GoblinFae]

"Please!" the man sniveled. "I swear I never thought you too would run into each other. Silverd'art I swear when I hired the other I figured she would take the kill and you would claim the package as promised. I don't see what the big deal is. It all worked out didn't it? I mean I'm the only one ending up on the short end of the stick; I'm the one twice as deep in the hole while the both of you are all the richer. Have some mercy."

"Mercy? I am sorry. I am afraid I do not know what that word means. Perhaps it is something like honor? Oh wait, you do not understand that concept. For if you did, you would not have crossed me. You would not have insulted me and you most certainly would not have sent two of us to do the same job. There are rules for this kind of thing and you have managed to break most of them. Congratulations worm, you just pissed off someone you really should not have."

The man whimpered which only fueled Tiraris' ego. She sneered down at him, nodding her head when the other assassin offered him up to her. "Bye-bye worm," she chuckled before smashing his head down hard onto the table top. He groaned before passing out and rolling out of his seat.

"Not worth the energy." Tiraris shrugged and turned guarded eyes to her new "friend." "Care to share a drink? I would not be opposed to changing establishments," she offered. The woman did not know what she was hoping to gain by doing so. It could have been the want for company, the camaraderie of being fooled as well, or the need to judge and watch the other, to determine whether there was a real threat in town or not.

[Xphy]

Tische cocked her eyebrow at the girl's actions, amused that she had chosen to spare him. Back home the man would have actually been lucky if he had been killed but she knew human societies were usually soft in comparison, even the so called 'rough' ones. It was something that had taken her quite a while to get use to. Still she had promised his fate to the other assassin and she would keep her word.

When the red haired woman asked if she wanted to share a drink with her she sighed. "I could definitely use one." Maybe some alcohol would be able to wash the bitter taste out of her mouth. Human's generally had poor taste when it came to the drinks, but at this point Tische didn't care. Anything to get her mind off of what had occurred would have done the trick.

"Lead the way. My treat," she grinned, lightly tapping the purse tied to her waist as she rose to her feet. It was only fair considering she had actually been paid. The dark elf also recalled the client calling the woman by her name. "Silverd'art was it? That's a cute name," she added with a wink. Unless the woman came from a long line of assassins, which she somehow doubted, it had to be an alias of sorts. "Come to think of it I think I've heard that name before here and there. Mine is Tische."