Woo I got first topic I'm so amazing - [ crispy ]

Admin Posts : 8 Join date : 2011-12-07

CLOAK & DAGGER

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A dark figure moved silently through the night, his feet making virtually no noise at all on the cold stone walkway. The large, dark cowl that he wore over his head made his face made his features invisible, instead giving him a secretive mask of shadow. He word a black leather jerkin, with a cloak over top of it, which hung from his shoulders and swished behind him. His boots, made from hide, were also the color night. The entire outfit as pitch-black, making him fade into the dark background. As he passed others, he stayed out of the light that their torches cast; it wasn't too hard, as everybody avoided him anyways (if they even spotted him). Nobody interrupted a member of the Corps, and that was a known fact. They were so secretive, and the group so full of espionage, that many say they were masters of sorcery.

Of course, he wasn't a wizard or anything of the kind. He was only an apprentice, anyways. Normally, however. Right now he was an apprentice on a mission, a very hard, grueling mission; retrieving coffee for his mentor. Shaking his head, and muttering, the boy clenched his fist, angered that the older man would send him on such a ridiculous task. Asher didn't dare argue, however; besides, Lebanon had sent on much stupider, moronic assignments than this. Even if the seventeen-year-old was on his final year of training, he still tried his hardest to teach him life lessons. Patience, intelligence, and the likes. Muttering to himself, Asher swept into the market square, seeming to melt out of the shadows, and into the torch-lit plaza. Many of the traders and merchants were already closing up their stands, as night had fallen and nobody ever bought or shopped in the darkness.

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Posts : 7 Join date : 2011-12-08

Evangeline Norewood

"You're not really trying to sell that to me for 10 gold coins now, are you, Gary?" A girl leaned against the planks of a merchant's stall, brushing her long, wavy blond hair behind her shoulder. She grinned at the man behind the counter, teeth glinting as they caught the dim light cast from the lone torch attached to the wall behind the tender of the stall. The man she called 'Gary' gave her a straight face. "10 gold coins is a fair price, Eva." He stated plainly, looking her in the eye. They both stared for a few moments before breaking into laughter simultaneously. "For you, though, it's 5." He said, holding out the cloth and thread that she had been trying to purchase and smiling at her. She beamed at him and took them from him, leaving 10 gold coins in his palm anyway. He shook his head at her and chuckled to himself as she walked away.

Frowning to herself, Evangeline shoved the supplies in her leather satchel and examined the rip in her tunic. She sighed. Clothes wore away too easily. She stopped and bought a bowl of stew at another stall before the older woman could close up. She cupped her hands around the bowl to capture some of the warmth before glancing back at the merchant and realizing that they were waiting for the bowl. Quickly spooning it into her mouth, she was finished in a few minutes and handed the bowl back to the person, her mouth scalding. The woman smiled at her and politely thanked her before wiping the bowl clean, packing up and going on her way. Evangeline sighed and plopped down on the hard packed dirt of the ground.

She should be completing a job. She had received the orders a week ago but she didn't feel like completing it, though she knew that eventually, she would have to. She normally didn't take assassination jobs. She was a mercenary, but her superior had ordered her to start doing other things. She wasn't one to ignore orders from those in a higher position than her, so she had complied. It wasn't like she enjoyed being a mercenary anyway. She wished she lived in different times.

Admin Posts : 8 Join date : 2011-12-07

asher treaty

Examining the different stalls and counters, Asher threw his hood off. His face was clear of any facial hair, and his eyes were a dark-blue color, glinting slightly in the low light. His lips were pulled into a very thin smile; when he had become an apprentice of the Corps, he was trained to be indifferent, expressionless. Unfortunately, Asher has always been naturally charismatic and intuitive, which is why he was chosen for so many undercover jobs. He could easily pull off a bard, or a shopkeeper, or just a lowly traveler. Furrowing his brows, the cloaked boy began walking towards a stall, before seeing that the woman was closing up. Frowning slightly, he glanced around, realizing that there wasn't very many choices left; did his mentor truly think that coffee would be available this late? Maybe it was a test, Asher considered. Probably not, he just wanted some coffee. Biting the inside of his mouth, he chose quickly, padding over to a girl who was sitting on the ground. Examining her, she looked like a normal, harmless girl; looks were deceiving, though. Asher had learned this when one of his best friends, his fellow apprentice under Lebanon, had turned traitor during a mission in Cypress. The fault had gotten him caught under a group of pirates. Asher sighed, remembering this event. Realizing that he had nearly walked directly on top of the girl, he wheeled backwards, curing himself for his daydreaming. "Excuse me," he began, smiling innocently, "any chance you know where I can snag some coffee?"

Posts : 7 Join date : 2011-12-08

Evangeline Norewood

Lost in thoughts of how her life was so much different from what she had expected and what her mother had wanted it to be like, Evangeline blew her hair out of her face. She missed her mother at times. Maybe if she hadn't died from childbirth when Evangeline was 12, she wouldn't have ended up working in the mercenary company. She had walked in front of the building a few days after her father packed up and left the family, off to who knows where. She had been drawn to the tall but unassuming building, she didn't know why but... Within a week, she had been taken under the wing of Anthony Huntington, an experienced, 35 year-old mercenary.

Her siblings didn't last very long without both their mother and father, though. They were all sick and then dead after a few months. Evangeline forced herself to move on. She was a little past desirable marrying age now, at 16 years old. She had been married once. Anthony had arranged for her to wed another mercenary when she was 14 years old. They had been together for a month when--

Shaken out of her thoughts, she scrambled to her feet and backing up to the wall of the stall and stared at the man who had suddenly appeared before her. She tried to remember if she had packed a knife in her bag and whether she would have enough time to withdraw it before she realized that he was no threat. Evangeline relaxed her stance and rubbed her eyes. "My apologies for the rather unfriendly reaction. I thought you were... Somewhat of a more unpleasant character." She said quickly, wriggling her fingers for a moment before remembering that he had asked a question. "Oh, erm, coffee..." She mused, looking down at her hands and chewing on her lower lip.

"I'm not entirely sure..." She said, blinking her eyes. "Most places aren't open at this hour. Although.. Come to think of it, Adeline's shop might still be open. I'm sure I saw coffee there the last time I dropped by. I can take you there, if you wish."

Admin Posts : 8 Join date : 2011-12-07

asher treaty

Asher raised an eyebrow as the girl scrambled backwards towards the stall. Listening to her reasoning, he nodded, pursing his lips. "Oh, I guess you are quite right. I tend to be a bit of a sneak, sometimes. The streets are dangerous, the days. Murderers and thieves around every corner..." He spoke the sentence with a bit of secret contempt. He gave her an apologetic nod, before musing on her idea. "Of course," the boy agreed, smiling a bit. Pulling back his cloak, Asher pulled a small, cone-like object from a holder on his waist. It was only about as big as a short-sword, and was brownish-red in color. Removing a second object, which was much smaller and silver, like a very dirty stone.

Striking the flint against the larger object's rim, a small spark escaped, lighting the pouch of powder inside. In one quick, swift motion, he waved it for a moment, the minuscule blaze become a tiny inferno. Holding the torch at about eye-level, he grinned slightly, pulling his hood up in the same motion. "Lead on." Stepping aside, he waved his gloved hand towards the general direction he assumed the shop to be, waiting for her to continue. "I'll try not to keep you too long. I just need a pack or two of coffee." Once again, he cursed Lebanon mentally. Only the jaded old man would send his apprentice on such a ridiculous mission. He had to admit, however, that he had found a bit of love for his mentor in his heart. In fact, the Corps master had become nearly like a father to him. Asher knew that he would rue the day of his graduation, when he would be assigned a fief to patrol and report on.

Posts : 7 Join date : 2011-12-08

Evangeline Norewood

"Oh, I don't mind." Evangeline said quickly, brushing her hair back and scratching her nose as she examined his torch for a moment before brushing herself off and setting off in the direction of Adeline's shop. Adeline was an old friend of hers, just a few years older than her, the daughter of one of her mother's friends. Sweet and caring, she was one of the few friends that Evangeline kept in touch with, one that wasn't too clingy and understood that Evangeline couldn't always be around. Turning a corner, she kept up a brisk but steady pace and looked back quickly to make sure he was still following.

A few turns later, she found herself in front of Adeline's store and grinned a little to herself before opening the door and keeping it held open for the man after she had stepped inside. "Good evening!" Adeline's voice rang out from somewhere among the shelves. Evangeline smiled. "Good evening." She replied. Adeline's head popped out from behind a shelf and her face broke out into an even wider smile than she had probably had before. "Well. Look at you. I was wondering when you were going to visit again." She said, laughing before she seemed to notice the man Evangeline had come with. "Who's your friend?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, green eyes sparkling.

"This is, erm.." Evangeline paused for a moment and coughed. It didn't occur to her that she should have introduced herself to him, but he was probably just an acquaintance that she would never see again. Introductions seemed unnecessary, but she guessed they were probably the polite thing to do. "Well, he's looking for coffee." She said lamely.

Admin Posts : 8 Join date : 2011-12-07

a s h e r TREATY

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Absently, Asher followed the girl, making sure that the torch lit up their steps. "Thanks for this," he said, glancing around. "Not many people would escort a stranger in the middle of the night." Even though he was off by a few hours, it was still extremely dark, dark enough to be considered "the middle of the night". Stepping into the shop behind her, he nodded thanks to her, and peered around the store, hearing a voice ring out from somewhere within.

When the other woman, Adeline, had emerged from the shelves, Asher gave a small wave, watching the exchange between the two friends. When the focus turned towards him, he grinned. Having already taken his hood off, he bowed slightly, as was polite when introducing yourself to a woman. "Asher Treaty," he said, one he had raised back up. "Like she said," he chuckled a bit, glancing towards Evangeline, "I'm looking for coffee."

Being in the company of two females, Asher faintly remembered something he had been told in the past; it had to do with loneliness, and the Cloak And Dagger Corps. A spark lit up in Asher's brain, and he repeated what Lebanon had told him. "A life in the Corps is one of loneliness and secrecy. Charisma and charms are no longer the traits the country needs." He frowned, not too keen on spending his life alone. That's why, unlike his mentor, he always attempted to be as friendly and polite as possible.

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Posts : 7 Join date : 2011-12-08

Evangeline Norewood

Evangeline closed the door behind him and smiled widely. It was nice to see Adeline again. She examined Asher briefly as he removed his hood and introduced himself. "Isn't he pretty, Ada?" Evangeline asked, laughing and striding over to sit on the counter. "Why, yes, yes, he is." She agreed. "You are indeed quite pretty, sir." She told him seriously, coming out from behind the shelf. She laughed along with Evangeline and curtsied delicately in reply to his earlier bow. Her brow then crinkled slightly as she tried to remember whether there was any coffee stocked in her store or not.

"I do believe I have some coffee." She said, brow smoothing itself out again. "Follow me." She instructed him before weaving through the aisles and coming to a stop at a pile of coffee beans. "Ah, here they are. How much is it that you wanted, again?" She asked, wiping her hands on her apron and tilting her head to one side.

"Don't try to sell him more than he wants now, Ada." Evangeline called from the front. "Watch out, Asher, she'll clean out your wallet in no time if you don't have your guard up." She said, laughing. Ada rolled her eyes and gave Evangeline a very believable 'Hardy har har' before leaning toward Asher slightly in a secretive way. "Don't pay attention to Evangeline. I'll at least leave you with at least a few coins." She said, winking at him. "You'd better give him a discount, you sneaky girl! Evangeline addeed. "Hush you. He doesn't need a discount." Adeline responded, throwing a chocolate at her friend to placate her. "My prices are quite fair, sir." She said to him seriously.

Admin Posts : 8 Join date : 2011-12-07

a s h e r TREATY

♟† ☾

Asher glanced between them, a small grin forming on his lips. "Pretty?" he questioned, crossing his arms and chuckling a bit. "I see." He nodded, and snickered a bit more while following Adeline through the aisles. "Perfect. I won't need too much, just enough to get me by for a few days." Once again, the two conversed, causing Asher to smile and raise an eyebrow. "You two are good friends." he observed matter-of-factly. "A few coins?" he asked, a minuscule grin peeling at the corners of his mouth. "Why then, how nice of you."

"Now, what's with all this sir business?" He glanced at the shopkeeper, before returning his gaze to the coffee beans. "Call me Ash, if you please, or just Asher. I'm not a sir, though; that's my father." Resting his hands on his thighs, he ran his eyes over the items, gauging how many he would need. Lebanon had only asked for enough to last a couple days; that would be about a pound, or so. Asher was also quite fond of the drink, though, so he estimated that they'd need twice the normal amount. So, he decided on two and a half pounds.

"Give me two and a half," he said, gesturing towards the beans. "How much would that be?" Waiting for her reply, he let out an unintentional yawn. Lately, Asher had been sleeping less, and doing more and more jobs. It was probably because he was nearing promotion, so he was constantly completing tasks to prove himself. It was hard, no doubt, but it was all worth it. He silently hoped that he'd be assigned to the sleepy ocean-side territory of Seacliff.

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Posts : 7 Join date : 2011-12-08

Evangeline Norewood

Running a hand through her hair in a flustered way, Adeline nodded. "Yes, we are. Terribly sorry that we keep getting interrupted." She apologized beofre turning to call to Eva. "Stop interrupting my sales!" She said, Eva said something back but it was muffled by the chocolate in her mouth. Adeline grinned and turned back to Asher. "Yes, we've known each other... since we were both much younger." She said thoughtfully, smiling as she remembered what it had been like when they were children.

"Ah, it's only proper for me to call you sir, Mr. Treaty, I couldn't possibly call you Asher.." She replied, smiling at him. She scooped a few cups of coffee beans into a bag and weighed it before tying it with a piece of string. "Here you are, two and a half pounds of coffee." She said, and then thinking for a moment before settling on a price. "That'll be about... Five coins." She declared before frowning lightly. "Sleep is a much better source of energy than coffee is, sir." She told him. "Though it isn't really my place to say so.." Adeline added, sighing and brushing off her hands on her apron again.

She walked back to the front of the store and tried to open the cash register. It stuck and wouldn't open even when she hit it lightly on the side. Sighing, she leaned against the counter and grimaced delicately. Evangeline examined her face for a moment before throwing the wrapper into the trash bin and poking her friend on the nose.

"Ada." Evangeline drawled. Adeline's smile returned her face. "What is it?" She asked. "Do you have any of those saltwater taffies from Artivera?" Evangeline inquired. Adeline thought for a moment before raising an eyebrow. "Yes, I do. Why? Do you want some? It's a wonder that you don't gain weight, having such a sweet tooth and being gluttonous by nature." Adeline teased her, Evangeline stuck her tongue out at her childishly. "No, actually, I was thinking that Asher might want to have some." Adeline smiled. "Alright, hang on a second." She disappeared behind another shelf before emerging with a small bag of candy.

Evangeline handed her a few coins before grinning at Asher. "You'd better come back to this shop. You don't have to buy anything, I just know Adeline's so lonely when I'm not here. She'd just love to have someone pretty like you come and talk to her when I'm not entertaining her." She said, Adeline scoffed in the background.

Admin Posts : 8 Join date : 2011-12-07

a s h e r TREATY

Asher nodded, taking the coffee before digging into his pockets for the gold she had requested. "Yes, of course. Much better prices than some of the other places I go." He opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could, the door swung open, and three men stepped in. Each of them were armed with shiny silver blades, which hung at the waists. They also wore thin coats of chainmail, with thick wool cloaks over top. One of them smirked, glancing at the three in the shop. Asher grew a bit uneasy, but held back, realizing that they might have business.

"Oh, so you're still living," the obvious leader began; he had a thick Iraluen accent, which made everything he said sound slightly pretentious. He stared at Adeline, and cleared his throat. "You haven't forgotten our deal, correct? Obviously you have, because we have no money." He drew his sword in an instant, and lashed out at the nearest glass object, which fell and shattered, filling the silent store. He nodded in satisfaction, before turning to the rest of the men. "Go ahead," he began, gesturing towards the aisles of stuff, "take what you please, destroy everything else."

Posts : 7 Join date : 2011-12-08

Evangeline Norewood

Evangeline smiled and started to say something again before the door opened and three men stepped into the shop. She watched as the man destroyed one of Adeline's glass cases and then tensed as he order the other men to destroy anything they didn't want. Turning slightly, she shot Adeline a look that said "We'll talk about this later." before sliding off the counter and quickly examining her opponents. All were better off armour and build wise than she was but she doubted that she was better with their swords than she was with the knives that she currently had with her. Her hand slid to her thigh to make sure that one of them was still strapped there, concealed by her clothing.

She would leave the leader for last. It would be easier to dispatch of his team mates first. She whirled when she heard the crash of one of the shelves being tipped over into another and whirled to face the man that had done it. She quickly rooted through her bag for her spare knife and unsheathed it before striding over to the man. She leapt onto his back and wrapped her arm tightly around his neck in an effort to cut off his air. His face turned red and he slammed her back into another shelf. She gritted her teeth as he slammed her back, twisting her legs to secure around his torso, feet pressing into his ribs as she tightened her arms around his neck. She just barely steered the man away as his friend swung his sword at her, the blade grazing her arm and then leg at the last moment. Ignoring the stream of blood that began to ran from the wounds, she kicked the other man away with all the strength she could manage. Evangeline then realized the man had finally passed out from the lack of air and leapt down before ruthlessly stabbing him through the heart.

She pulled the knife out and whirled to face the other man only to get slammed into and smashed into another shelf. She was unsure as to whether they were broken or not, but her ribs didn't feel like they normally did. Her right hand crunched up two glass cups under it. The shards cut into her palm and opened up new wounds for her blood to escape through. She muffled a cry and buckled over for a moment and then just barely leapt aside as the man tried to to grab her and slam her into another shelf. Of course, she had been foolish to assume that the men were less skilled than her. It wasn't as if she had more energy than them either. The fatigue from a long day was starting to settle into her bones and muscles. She wondered if she'd be in any condition to face the leader at this rate.

(( Lololol, I'm leaving the boss for you. xD ))

Admin Posts : 8 Join date : 2011-12-07

a s h e r TREATY

Asher watched the scene play out calmly; members were trained to keep their heads clear in battles and skirmishes, because of the risk. Moving his cloak, he retrieved the small, wide saxe-knife from his belt, and glided towards the leader. He was unnoticed for the most part, until he had come right up on the man. Caught by surprise, he swung the blade out, but Asher ducked below the clumsy action. With the man's arms up and his torso completely unprotected, it gave the opportunity he needed. With as much force as possible, Asher drove his shoulder into the leader's chest, pushing him against the bare wall. The man had obviously been trained, because he skillfully pushed him away, and thrusted the sword out, straight towards Asher's gut. He had more training than the men, though. Using the thick, tough saxe-knife, he deflected the blow, and lashed out. It sliced through the man's chainmail like butter, cutting the material underneath as well.

Surprised, he kicked, landing a blow that Asher hadn't been expected. It caused him to stumble backwards, and trip over something that had been knocked over in the fight. With him on the ground, the man lifted the blade high above his head, striking down. He only hit wood, however, because Asher had rolled out of the way. He ended it with a kick, knocking the man to his knees. Being a member of the Corps, it have him the power to public, legal executions. With little to no pity, though a twinge of regret still lurked, he bent with the saxe-knife and cut the man's throat. Stepping back so that his boots were not stained with blood, he frowned, and crossed his arms.

"Well then, we made a quite a mess of things, didn't we?" He turned, and looked directly at Evangeline. She was also skilled, he could see. Just as he had thought, looks were deceiving. She appeared to be little more than a mischievous merchant, but she was no doubt a trained killer. Tilting his head, he examined her a bit more. She also could cause quite a bit of trouble for him. He would have to report this incident to his mentor, who would then take the case to the Corps headquarters. Shrugging, he smirked a bit, and glanced at the other body, a member of the group that Evangeline had already dispatched of. "Impressive," he muttered to himself.

Posts : 7 Join date : 2011-12-08

Evangeline Norewood

Disoriented for a moment, she just barely registered when the man threw another shelf on top of her. She rolled out of the way and winced as she landed on more broken shards of objects that had been broken. "Would you stop breaking things?" She snapped, looking at him in a frustrated way. In reply, he swung a sword down toward her head. She raised her knife to reflect the blow but then dropped the knife shortly after ward. With her hand free, she delivered a powerful strike to his solar plexus, catching him off guard and winding him. She stood over him as he crumpled to the ground and unsheathed her knife before stabbing it downward into his heart. She was pretty hardy with her left hand as well.

Taking a deep breath, she limped forward with as much pride as she could manage. Upon seeing the leader with his neck slit, she raised her eyebrows slightly before sitting down on a wooden chair that had managed to escape being destroyed. Slowly picking pieces of glass out of the ravaged flesh of her palm, she looked over at Adeline and Asher. "Good job." She said curtly to Asher, before sighing irritably. She mumbled something to herself, digging a piece out a little too roughly and cringing.

Adeline gently took Evangeline's hands in hers and cleaned out the wounds while Evangeline firmly pressed her lips together. She then wrapped her friend's left hand with a clean, white bandage. When she finished, she looked down at the cuts on her arm and leg. "I don't really know what to do for those..." She said, looking a little guilty at seeing Evangeline so banged up. "Not your fault. I'm a little out of it lately.." Evangeline muttered, staring as red seeped into the white cloth wrapped around her hand. "I'll just visit Anthony later. He'll stitch it up for me." She said, crinkling her nose.

"Sorry this had to happen, Asher." She apologized before looking at Adeline. "I thought you paid back those debts.." She said to her quietly. Adeline looked like she might cry. "I thought I did too..." She replied, looking like a child that had been scolded. Evangeline sighed, and muttered an apology. "Let's just hope that those men don't have any friends..." It was too much for hope for, she knew, but she said it anyway.