From thief to killer (Career Choice RP)

Benella slid down the wall to land on her backside, her head against the wall. Her hands were clenched around the form of the statue she’d been sent in to liberate from its owner. The owner. A shudder moved through her and she closed her eyes, her breath still panting through her teeth. He was a large man, frightening in his intensity and very, very angry. He’d even managed to get his hands on her, once. She’d slipped out of his grip and made it out of the building, though.

She tensed as a shadow moved closer to her, though she was reasonably sure she was hidden in the shadows of the attic she’d crept into. It was the designated drop point, but she had no idea who she was meeting. She was following orders. “You didn’t kill him,” a voice hissed from the moving shadow. Ben had been right to tense.

“My orders were to get the statue, not kill anyone,” she answered simply.

The shadow changed shape as it came across a window, turning into a person rather than a large black blob moving along the wall. The person’s face was hidden, but Ben could clearly see the details she’d been told to look for in the person coming for the statue. A medium built man, a tattoo of a dragon’s talon on the back of his hand. He reached for the statue in her hand and she offered it to him without hesitation. The hesitation is what would get you in trouble, some days.

“He has seen you?” the man asked. Ben nodded slowly. How could he not have seen her? “Then you shall have to kill him. If he breathes a word of your description to anyone, you are a dead woman. For such an accomplished little thief, that would be a terrible shame.”

Ben closed her eyes, realizing the man was right.  She’d have to do it quickly, too, in case the authorities were already on their way. She muttered a curse and pushed herself upright. “I have no weapon,” she said, casting her eyes around the abandoned attic. She heard the hiss of a short blade from the man and flicked her eyes back to him. Was he going to kill her and save the mark the trouble of telling the night guard? She breathed a little easier when he turned the blade around and handed it to her, hilt first. It was taking an awful chance that she wouldn’t run him through right then. Did he trust her that much or was he good enough at defending himself that she wasn’t a threat?

“Go, quickly,” he said, opening the window she’d climbed through. “Remember to blend in as long as as possible. He’s bigger than you are, so you need the element of surprise or you’ll never live to see morning.”

Now, that was a big comfort.

She climbed down the building and stuck to the shadows, inching her way along the path she’d taken to get to the drop point. The house she’d just vacated was a beehive of activity and she took a moment to watch it, finding the patterns in the movements, before advancing towards a bottom floor doorway. The large man was moving up the stairs in the hallway, followed by a servant. She listened to their conversation fade overhead, counting the steps until they faded, as well.  Only then did she leave the room she’d snuck in through, keeping to the shadows and holding her breath so she didn’t make a noise. She reached the top of the stairs and counted steps, pausing outside a doorway as she recognized the rise and fall of her target’s voice. He was still talking to the servant, so she found a shadow and sank into it.

Her legs were threatening to cramp when the door opened and the servant exited. The stocky little man didn’t even look her way as he carried a tray back towards the stairs. Ben waited until the hallway was clear again before moving to the door. The house was being darkened for the night, by then, and Ben was grateful for the cover of the darkness in the hall as she pushed the door open. The good thing about her target being a particularly wealthy man is that the door was well-oiled and didn’t make a sound as it swung open a little to let her in. She took a deep breath and approached the bed.

The man was awake and looking right at her. She froze a moment, her hand curling around the blade in her fist. “Come to finish the job?” he asked, sitting up. The moon filtered through the gauzy curtains on the window, partially illuminating the room. Ben had been careful not to go near the light. Apparently, this man’s eyes were already accustomed to the darkness.

Before she could answer, another blade flashed in the moonlight. Strangely enough, this one flashed from just beside the man’s bed. A line of crimson appeared on the man’s neck, opening wider to something far darker and a horrible gurgle erupted from him as he slumped backwards. Ben stared as blood poured from the wound. “Come,” the shadow by the bed said, waving her towards the window. The flash of moonlight showed her a dragon’s talon tattoo on the back of the hand that pushed the window open.

Ben followed silently, as the man she’d met in the attic lead her down the side of the building using an intricate staircase and porch system that ended in the garden. It wasn’t long before they were scaling the wall in the back and dropping into an alleyway just beyond. “How?” she asked as they made their way away from the building. There’d been no cry of alarm and Ben wondered idly if anyone would even realize their master was dead before sunrise. She doubted it if the ease they’d left the premises was any indication.

“I am a trained assassin and it was very apparent by your methods that you are not,” he said simply. He shot a look at her that wasn’t condemning. It was kind of surprising to see that expression on someone’s face, even though she’d so clearly not done something right. He moved gracefully, keeping to the shadows. It was the kind of grace that made you cringe; a dangerous stride that fairly screamed that he was dangerous. She followed, trying to emulate it, but failing. She felt like a kid again. It wasn’t a feeling she liked.

She suddenly knew she had to have whatever he had. Not through thievery, though. “I want to learn,” she said, catching up with him. She wanted someone to feel this surge of energy demanding that they run as far as possible, just by watching her move. The man stopped and looked back at her, his eyes moving from her toes to her hair and back again. “You are a clumsy thief,” he said. “Do you have any idea how much work it will take to train you enough to be a passable killer?”

He shook his head disbelievingly and Ben paused. She wasn’t clumsy. “I don’t want to be passable,” she said softly. She’d blended into the shadows alongside the walls, hiding herself so he wouldn’t see the frown on her face. He turned towards the sound, but she could tell by his expression that he’d lost her in the darkness. She was intrigued by that. She moved slowly but silently until she was on him, then had the blade he’d loaned her pointed right at his gut before he’d realized where she’d gone. He looked down at the blade and up at her as she emerged from the shadows again.

That was when he laughed. It was rather unexpected and she was pretty sure he thought so, too. “Aye,” he said, nodding his head. “If it’s a killer you want to be, it’s a killer we’ll train you for.” He was still laughing as he lead her out of the city.