(The Slums) Silent Steps (Kiara Killraven)

by **Antar** on July 11th, 2011, 7:18 am

At the foot of the stairs, Antar paused when Kiara paused a moment, wondering why she was stopping. Straining his senses to tell him what was wrong he heard muffled curses through the doorway on the first floor, signs of a conversation being had. But nothing immediately could be discerned.

Taking the lead he ventured slowly up the steps, this time making sure to place his feet as close to the side of the steps as possible where they met the wall and the support brace in order to limit the chance of creaking. Abberant noise was not a friend in this situation. Each step up and it felt like his nerves were on edge, and the nervousness of his task made him feel like his stomach was somewhere below his knees at this point.

And checking behind with quick glances that kiara was following and there was no activity from the guards at the gatehouse didn't help matters any.

Finally, the pair reached the top of the staircase, and Antar moved towards the doorway. For a moment he checked the lock, worried their journey might end here, but luck smiled upon them as the door opened. Creeping his way inside the warehouse the voices below them began to get louder and louder as they continued. Making a quick decision he ducked behind an area with a few sack bags and pointed kiara to another set not five feet from the door. On the far side of the top floor loft several bales of hay could be seen, an out of sorts element in a place dedicated to sales of fish.

Raising himself up a bit to his toes, he skirted a glance below to find on the far side of the warehouse's first floor there were rows upon rows of wrapped corpses, and the air rang heavy with the scent of limestone; to prevent the smell from traveling.

It was obvious this fishery was more then what it appeared to be...

Noth cast a quick glance at Kiara, making a motion to keep a lookout before he turned to creep closer to the edge of the loft to get a better view of the men...

There were five of them below, several armored. Three of them were looking rather unhappy as the leader spoke to the pair they had followed.

"Listen, I don't care if you were bringing me something to make up for the last quota. I want the jobs done on time damnit!" The man with the crossbow muttered an apology before the boss let out another perjurative, "Feth, don't you dare try to make excuses for me either! So you brought me one more body now when I wanted it last night!?! You think that makes things easier? What if someone saw you? What if those buying our goods didn't like how this was being handled?"

The second man from the wagon spoke,"But boss, Them nuits aren't really going to care , are they? I know the bodies go to sahova, but does it really matter? We got the last one to fill the quota of what we missed here now. Might not be a bum, and rather someone who irked Drakius here, but still in good shape. A body's a body to those in Sahova, right?"

"Don't tell me what to do, maggot! I don't pay you to think; now isn't that right?"

"Erh, yes boss. Sorry boss."

"Well then, I suppose that's good. Never do it again! Otherwise I'm sure you should consider I might just give them Nuits a bonus by adding two more bodies to the batch? Specifically yours you two idiots!"

"Erh, yes boss. Sorry boss." the wagon man muttered as the two guards of leader leered a moment before the man spoke again,"
Ach, whatever! You're wasting my time, at least we have the second wagon loaded with the next batch of bodies. Luckily, since you disappointed me last night you two oafs will be the ones delivering it!"

There was a second where Antar ducked back behind sight as the leader turned towards the top loft, "Jeez now I got to get Solomon to prepare another corpse, Lazy bastard usually sleeps up in the hay..." The man turned upwards and shouted, "Hey, Soloman! Get yar' lazy arse up! I got another body for you to prepare to take to the docks, The boys and these two knuckleheads are going to go grab a bite to eat."

Antar mind bit off a curse as the five walked out of the warehouse's large front door as a sleepy cry from the far side of the loft muttered something loud enough to sound like, "M'kay boss!"

Ducking back behind the crates, Antar's eyes met Kiara's as he unwound a set of beads at his wrist. Spreading the garrote wire inside far enough for the darkened metal to be seen. He'd rather let the oaf pass by quietly, but Noth knew if they were in danger of being discovered, he'd have to act. Hopefully looping the wire around Solomon's neck to silence him and constrict the airway while his cohort stabbed him to death.

But that was only if they could take him by surprise. Noth at least thanked their present positons as each one flanked one of two routes the man might take, either coming towards the stairs, or to the ladder nearby...

by **Kiara Killraven** on July 12th, 2011, 8:05 am

The white haired woman let Antar pass by her and take the lead. She let her dark eyes study his movements as he ascended the steps that lead to the second floor of the warehouse. As he began he way up his foot placement puzzled Kiara for a moment. About the fourth step she understood what he was doing. The steps tended to flex and make noises if one put all of their weight in the middle of it. By putting his feet closer to where the steps pressed against the warehouse there was less room for the step to flex. That little trip that Antar was using made their journey up the stairs did not cause a single creak from the steps.

Kiara followed behind Antar closely. They made it to the top of the stairs fairly quickly considering their haste. Once again Antar took the lead. Leaning down he peered at the lock for a few moments. He seemed to have much more of an affinity for things like that then she did. To occupy herself for the few moments it took him to decide whether he would have to attempt to pick it, she turned her head back in the direction of the guards tending the gate. It seemed they still had not spotted the intruders. These were some guards that she doubted would live to see the light of another day if whoever was in charge of the compound found out about just how bad of a job they had been doing.

She turned her eyes back to Antar as she saw him slowly slide the door open. Together they slowly crept into the warehouse. The further in they got the louder the voices they heard were getting. The assassin nodded her head slightly as she moved to hide behind a group of sack bags not fair from a similar grouping that Antar also hid behind. Like her white haired companion she glanced over the sacks and down into the first floor of the compound. She knew almost right away what the bodies were for. In a city like Sunberth, positioned so closely to Sahova, it was common knowledge that some of the many syndicates that ran the city would trade some of their victims to the island of the undead.

She half listened, half watched the exchange between the two that had drove the wagon and what appeared to be their boss. It seemed Kiara's guess about their being aditional guards was correct. They weren't lightly armed either. Kiara bit back a curse as their leader yelled out someone's name which was answered by a voice in the loft with them. What was worse was the voice was not far from where she hid. He heard the man's foot steps before she saw him. He seemed to be wiping his eyes with very grubby looking hands. His eyes fell on her as he cleared a set of crates. His eyes widened slightly as he stared in disbelief at the intruder, his mind still thick from sleep.

by **Antar** on July 12th, 2011, 8:39 am

Antar struck with all the ferocity and speed of a coiled viper from behind Solomon, looping the wire around the startled man's neck before pulling tightly to silence any cries. Instinctively the man's hands reached up to try to pull at the garrote biting into his skin, but Antar twisted his body and pulled, placing his own back to the wall as he manhandled Solomon behind him. The man struggled, trying to elbow Noth in the ribs, but the rogue continued to hold on, tightening his abdominal muscles to strengthen his core.

The man being strangled threw his head back, hitting noth in the nose and teeth with the back of his skull repeatedly during the struggle. Noth could feel the warm and sticky sensation of blood running into his mouth as his eyes pleaded a look to Kiara to kill the bastard.

Luckily for them the men below had already departed, but who knew how much time they had before they came back? For the moment however, it was taking all his strength to hold on and prevent the workhand from moving.

by **Kiara Killraven** on July 12th, 2011, 12:11 pm

Kiara didn't move as the man stared at her wild eyed. She didn't move though. Doing that might have spooked him enough to spur him into action. Still his surprise only lasted a moment before he took a deep breath to yell for help. Antar though chose that moment to spring into action. Around the man's neck the wire went. Solomon's eyes bulged as his wind pipe was cut off by Antar.

Kiara darted to the edge of the loft and peered down. Thankfully the men that had been speaking on the first floor had already left and had not been alerted to their presence. The assassin moved back to join her partner as the man he held began thrashing. More then a few of the hits landed on the grim faced Antar. After a rather nasty blow to the face she decided enough was enough. Moving forward she unsheathed her dagger. In one motion she brought her body closer to their victim and slid her dagger between two of his ribs. For a moment the man continued to thrash but with a twist of her dagger the life in the man's eyes faded.

The woman wiped the crimson liquid from her dagger on the dead man's cloths before resheathing it at her side. She moved back over to the side of the loft and found the ladder down. Turning back she motioned for Antar to follow her. She climbed down the wooden ladder quickly. After reaching the ground level of the warehouse she knelt down for a moment to wait for Antar to join her. She had over heard that the men had already loaded one of the carts with bodies. She figured that they would move it to the ship after they finished their meal. She would share these thoughts with Antar when he caught up to her and see what he thought they should do.

by **Antar** on July 12th, 2011, 1:53 pm

Antar wearily rose from his position for a moment snorting some of the blood back up into his nose as he blinked a few times. Thankfully it didn't feel broken, just bloodied. The corpse was heavy in his hands, but like a pro he realized it had to be discarded or dealt with long enough to ensure that no one would espy it for the time being.

He hauled the now dead body over his shoulder and made his way to the ladder. With careful steps he descended body in tow to the bottom, before looking around, and then back at Kiara. He opened his mouth slightly to speak but then turned his head to the side to spit blood as he looked around. On the far side of the warehouse another wagon sat, this one lined with a covered tarp, and behind it several large bags of canvas were present. He looked at Kiara, who seemed to be thinking the same thing as him as she drew his attention to it.

Almost like a drunkard, Not walked with his heavy burden to where the bags were and took a look into the carriage, noting several large burlap sacks which were roughly large enough to hold a human being. Taking an empty one, Noth laid Solomon inside and closed it up, the body beginning to stink with the release of its bowels. He did the same for the one the men they were tailing brought in before motioning to Kiara to get in the back of the carriage. He set the large sacks with their newfound burdens inside and crawled in after, immersing himself to hide amongst the corpses as he began to hear noises coming from outside...

The stink was horrible, and something he was sure Kiara would object to, but it was a means of getting close to their targets when they drove the carriage out of this place, and into the streets of sunberth.

From there, a single surprise strike might slit both their throats fast enough so they might regain the beggar's prize...

by **Kiara Killraven** on July 12th, 2011, 2:55 pm

Kiara turned back and looked at Antar as he reached the floor. She let out an audible yet quiet sigh as she saw him bring down the body with him. Why had she not thought of that. When they came back and could not find the one named Solomon they would surely check the loft where the man had been sleeping. If they found a dead body instead of their sleeping companion it would alert them to the two white haired rogues. If such a thing happened the chances of them getting out of the compound alive significantly dropped.

Kiara was still watching her white haired friend when he opened his mouth to say something to her. Whether it was involuntary or not she didn't know but instead of saying a word to her he turned his head and spit out a glob of blood. Without saying a word the two looked at the wagon and then back at each other. They both knew what the other was thinking. Kiara followed her friend over to the wagon and knelt down. She let him do most of the work considering his physical superiority to her. She stood silent guard over her fellow interloper.

The assassin heard a faint sound outside as Antar loaded the two new bodies to the already full cart. For a moment her mind raced as she turned back to alert Antar that they were about to have company. For a moment she was unclear as to Antar's thinking but as he climbed into the cart it became perfectly clear. She glared at the rogue as she climbed into the cart beside him and covered herself with the dead bodies. Her senses weren't anything exceptional compared to other humans but over the years her nose had become quite sensitive to smells. At the moment with the dead bodies and the lime so close to her nose the smells were almost over powering. Still she grit her teeth and remained quiet as the door to the warehouse opened.

by **Antar** on July 13th, 2011, 9:51 am

"Fething bloody hell, we're always running late around here thanks to you two Idjits!" Noth heard sworn from the inside of the carriage as the targets and three other men stormed back into the warehouse. A horse being brought behind them. The boss was in a mighty uproar. "[b]Solomon! Solomon! You load up the carriage yet? Now where did that no good wretch get off to? Solomon!"

The footsteps on the warehouse floor seemed to echo loudly in his ears as the group spread out a bit. "Erh, boss I think he already did, the body we had out isn't there anymore."
"What did I tell you about talking back to me, you pimply grot!"
"Erh... sorry boss."
"Check the bloody wagon to see if it's full. The lazy sot probably just went somewhere else to fall back asleep! I swear when I get my hands on that varmint I'll-"

There was a shuffling sound at the back of the wagon and for a few moments, Noth's heart beat ten times faster, seeming loud enough to wake the dead. Thankfully , the feeling passed as the tarp was laid down again.

"It's full boss, seems like everythin' be in order."
"Tsk- Just get the goods down to the docks, fourth pier to the boat. No dallying, we're late enough! Dead ones, don't pay as much as live ones do: They don't stay fresh long enough!"

After a few muttered assents by the marks, Noth held his breath as the pair mounted the carraige box and a horse was brought up to be attached. With a bit of care he unlimbered his dagger and peeked through the small opening of the tarp to see the backs of the two men. Within moments the carriage was making its way out the gate and past the guards, turning down a set of alleys towards the Docks.

Stretching out a hand through the piled bodies, Noth found Kiara's arm (it was the only warm arm around that wasn't in a bodybag) and tapped five times on her skin as the carriage turned another alleyway as the horse continued on.

With his blade out Antar waited as more distance was put between them and the dockside fishery, making sure to tap four times. A silent countdown.

Three taps. The air was stifling around them but he was pretty sure they were relatively alone with the two targets, the sounds of seabirds were muffled and he didn't hear any other voices around. Just the two men they'd come to kill grunting and being miserable as they sat in front of them.

Two taps.

The waiting was the hard part as he loosened the edge of the tarp to allow them an opportunity to finish this quickly.

One tap on Kiara's arm.

A heartbeat later Noth struck, bringing the inner edge of his kukri up and out in his right hand to come about the target on his side's neck. His left arm used as a brace to encircle the mercenary's forehead, holding him in place while he drew the blade horizontally across the jugular, cutting through the windpipe and bone. Unknowing of Kiara's own actions Noth hauled the still breathing corpse backwards into the the carriage bed, and put the blade through the man's heart...

by **Kiara Killraven** on July 13th, 2011, 12:14 pm

The light footed woman had barely settled into place and quit moving when the doors burst open and the men who had left earlier stepped back through it. At least she guessed they were the same men. The man who had been yelling before the group had left was with this group. That alone was apparent from the still ceaseless string of curses and insults coming from the man. He also heard the timid voice of the man he had been yelling at before. The solidified her assumption that it was the same group that had left not too long before.

"Check the bloody wagon." Those words caused a very cold feeling to travel up her spine. She heard the man's heavy foot steps close in on the wagon. She heard the sound of the tarp being pulled in and gritted her teeth. Concentrating she made sure she did not move an inch as she heard noises coming from the back of the wagon. The likelihood of him hearing her breathing through all the curses that were being thrown his way was low but she held her breath anyway. Soon though her lungs began to burn. If he didn't go away soon she would be forced breath where he might hear. As luck would have it the sounds of rustling at the end of the wagon ceased and the tarp was laid back down.

The assassin allowed herself to take exhale slowly. It took a considerable force of will not to gasp for her next breath of air but she resisted the urge. Slowly and deliberately she took her next breath filling her lungs with fresh, albeit foul smelling, air. The white haired woman's hand traveled slowly down her body as the rest of the exchange went on between the boss and the two hired killers' targets. From under the tarp she couldn't see what was happening. She could however make out was was going on from the sounds alone. She heard the sound's of the horse's iron shod hoofs as they moved it up to attach it to the front of the cart.

Kiara tried to relax her muscles a bit as the cart was jostled into motion and was ushered through the doors to the warehouse. The amount of light underneath the tarp drastically increased as they left the confines of the building. She could hear the sound of the gate that the cart had arrived through opening as they approached. It seemed the group wanted these bodies shipped out as quickly as they could get them out. She could hear the gates closing as they made their way further from the compound. Using the bouncing of the cart and the sound of it's wheels turning as a way of masking her actions she took extreme care in pulling her right dagger from it's sheath on her leg. The dagger had barely cleared it's sheath when she felt the touch of Antar's hand against her arm.

She felt the rogue tap her arm five times but she had no idea what it meant. She felt her heartbeat a few more times before she felt him tap her arm again. This time she only felt him tap her four times. By the time his next series of taps came she realized what the tapping signified. She let herself breath a sigh of relief. At last they were going to be rid of the stench of this cart. Finally the tapping ended. As one the two white haired criminals rose from their hiding places. She did not look over to make sure Antar had had the same idea as her. She had come to trust that the archer had a similar thought pattern to her's.

Over her years in the blood pits and the various fights and killings she had done she had began experimenting on ways to make kill others without bringing too much notice to her. For someone without an affinity for poisons this was no easy task. Most of her experiments had failed. Most but not all. Those endless testings had taught her a way that instantly took someone out of a fight and if pulled off correctly could be hidden in plain sight long enough for her to get away. In this case it was the fact that it instantly stopped her targets movements that appealed to her. As the assassin rose up behind her target she slid the tip of her blade into the soft spot of the man's neck where the skull met the spine. The action was a simple quick jab. The dagger slid into and then back out of the man's skin with an easy that only fine sharpened steel could achieve. The man's body went limp instantly. As its own weight caused the body to fall backwards Kiara caught the man and lowered him to the bed of the cart. His eyes turned to look at her accusingly. That was the nature of what she had done. The man was still alive but he could not move at all. In a few moments his lack of being able to control his breathing would cause him to suffocate.

Not wasting her energy to end the man quickly she frisked his body for anything of value. Her search came up empty outside of a small coin purse that was attached to the man's belt. A single swift stroke from her dagger freed the purse from it's bondage. Her dagger found it's way into it's sheath as the assassin hopped from the bed of the now stopped cart to the cobblestone street. She turned her head back to her partner after looking both up and then back down the street to assure their were no witnesses watching their actions. The street appeared to be devoid of life aside from the two members of the Crimson Edge.

by **Antar** on July 14th, 2011, 6:57 am

Noth grinned as he gathered a taste of semi-fresh air into his lungs. The deed was done. With a small grunt of effort he pulled his dagger from the man's chest and began to search him. First checking about the man's neck for the artifice they had come to reacquire for the beggar. Sure enough, it was there. A small gold medallion with two entwined rings fashioned to a small loop on it's backside...

He grabbed it quickly before securing it in a small scrap of cloth he'd brought for the occassion before checking the rest of the body. There was nothing of value but a small cutpurse and the ruffians shortbow. Which Noth took, he had a habit of collecting the things as they were useful in training the others...

With haste Antar secured the bodies of both men, after pointing Kiara to sit in the pillbox of the still moving carriage. The horse was different then most who would have shied away from the scent of blood. While the nefarious deed was done, the horse kept moving along at a slow gait, carrying them to whom knew where?

It was a little while before Noth had an inkling of where the horse was leading them after it turned another corner and brought them out to the docks. With them both in public sight, he joined Kiara on the carriage seat and eventually the horse stopped at the edge of a large wharf, whinnieing all the while. Glancing over to Kiara, Noth dismounted as a few distant men began to walk towards them from the only ship at pier number four. They were about a hundred yards away, hopefully with the sailors nowhere near close enough to see them.

With wary attention to detail Noth slowly freed the horse from the harness and took the reins to lead it away, not glancing at the men, or back towards Kiara whom he knew would follow.

The two disappeared down the road, with the horse in tow as the sailors behind them began to load a shipment to Sahova into their vessel's cargo hold. It shipment's quota was three bodies heavier then it should have been: not that Nuits would ever be the type to raise questions about a few extra corpses...

~Fin

Skills Desired for Review :

by **Leviathan** on August 26th, 2011, 6:06 pm

Thread Award!

Antar

Skills

Skill	Gain	Info.
Rhetoric	5	--
Observation	3	--
Navigation	1	--
Stealth	3	--
Investigation	2	--
Tactics	1	--
Weapon (Garrote)	1	--
Body Building	1	--
Weapon (Kukri)	1	--

Lore

Navigation: Sunberth City & Crowds

Stealth: Blending into Crowds

Stealth: Hiding Behind Obstacles

Language: Antar Sign (Basic)

Extra

Items Acquired	Quality	Sell Value
Shortbow	Cracked, Worn, Hastily Made	8 gm
Purse (2 gm, 7 sm)	Stinks of Death	0 gm
Medallion	--	0 gm

Additional CommentsKiara, it appears you are no longer active. If this changes, PM me and I'll make sure you get your XPs. Thanks.

I think Antar has earned his own, self-made sign language of sorts. He used various signs and such in place of words (for obvious reasons) that I think it could become a person system of communication. Maybe you should develop this?