An Unlikely Friendship

[Jimmy Avery]

48td Day of Summer 512 AV

The last bit of illumination provided by the dimming sky over Zeltiva finally gave in to the darkness of night as a lone figure hugged the shadows in a dark alley just off the main route leading to the center of the city. He was keeping his position near the edge of the city his eyes keenly watching a small complex placed nicely on the main road, a logical choice for a stable near the edge of the city and a choice location for travelers to leave their horses in the care of skill grooms.

Jimmy had been eyeing this position for a few days now, he had achieved a couple of near misses In his time here but tonight he was hoping for a more successful haul. He had marked the man whom he judged the manager of this modest business a day before and a few times he had caught time glimpses of conversation lending him to believe the man was away on some item of business tonight. It made for the perfect opportunity but Jimmy left nothing to chance and decided that he would not leave a trail, tonight he would strike earlier to avoid suspicious patterns evolving that could point the authorities to him.

He had seen the marked man leave by horse drawn carriage an hour before and judged it time to make his move, he judged it two hours before midnight so a few grooms may still be present. All the more reason to keep his finger blade hidden upon his ring finger as he hugged the shadows moving with guile toward the target complex…

[Arianne]

Arianne was working late. In most people’s work terms it was late anyway. It was just after the tenth bell, so the stable complex was mostly empty. One other groom was finishing work with the horses in the display stalls while Arianne worked in the back stables. Most of the foals had settled surprisingly well tonight, which made her job a lot easier. She had no desire to go chasing after an errant youngling with too much energy after all. The other groom stuck his head round the entrance to say goodnight, and Arianne waved goodbye. It seemed she would be working alone until all the horses were sorted now. Not that she minded, spending time with just the horses and her thoughts suited her fine. It was times like these that she made her plans and envisioned her dreams. She had one last horse to sort before she could retire back to the complex for the rest of the night. She gathered what she needed and set about fixing the mare up, humming lightly to herself as she worked.

[Jimmy Avery]

His heart seemed to skip a beat as he suddenly caught his breath and pressed himself against the side of the display stables. A short and young groomsman had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, jimmy was lucky in the fact that the groom seemed to be paying more attention to bidding a colleague a good night than checking the outside of the stables, had the man been a little more intent on leaving he may have been caught before he even had the chance to eye anything of value. He lay low for a few minutes listening intently as the groom left the stables, he was sure he had not been detected though he now knew that at least one more person was present, and that was one too many.

His eyes scanned the area around him, he needed a way in where had the advantage if it came to confrontation, he hadn’t forgotten the incident with the jewelry merchant and had no desire to jump into another situation like that. He had a few routes of entry, the first was the through the front of the stables which led to what he assumed would be another stable area, the second was an open window that led to what would be a second floor to the second stable area. He liked the thought of being above any potential danger and turned his attention to the opening above him, he wasn’t the most accomplished climber but then it was only a second story so he judged it wouldn’t be too difficult to propel himself up to the opening.

He took a moment to gauge the situation and vested the wooden wall before him with the toe of his foot, once satisfied he backed up and without hesitation he took a running start planting his foot into the wooden wall and then grabbed the edge of the opening. He gave out a very quiet gasp as he nearly lost his grip but he quickly regained control and within a few moments he had managed to pull himself up into the opening.

If anything there was more light up here than there was outside, the room he was in seemed to be a small stable built onto the back of the previous one and so was sheltered from the view of the street. Where he was currently crouched was a simple raised floor, clearly a storage area above the work space bellow, several crates and containers lay around him alongside a bale of hay in the corner. Bellow was illuminated by a series of lanterns and by the tell tale sounds of someone working bellow him he knew that he was definitely not alone in the room aside from the horses that where currently present. He made sure to remain quiet, he hadn’t thought this through and suddenly he found himself in a situation where he was now in a room with a potential threat and a bunch of horses that he needed to make sure he did not spook.

Silently cursing his stupidity he went prone and slowly pulled himself to the edge of the ledge where he could overlook the work space bellow…

[Arianne]

Ariane broke off her humming as she heard a noise from outside. It sounded like something had hit the wooden wall of the stable, but she couldn't be sure. She remained quiet for a moment, listening for any other sounds, but besides the berthing of the horses around her none came. She returned to grooming the horse, though she continued to cast her eyes round the space as she worked. More than once something unwanted had gotten into the stables and done damage or injury. She felt her nerves rise a little, but the rhythmic motions of grooming did much to keep her calm. Eventually it came where the horse was clean, and Arianne left the stall, pulling the door behind her and dropping the brush into its box. She still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling though. She thought she heard something from above her, a creak of the floorboards perhaps? Or was it her imagination running wild. Arianne didn't like being worried, so she made the decision to call out. If nothing moved or responded, she would deduce that it was just her being stupid. "Is someone there?" ooc : Sorry this took me so long to reply to.