Catching a Thief (Rey)

by **Sayana** on September 2nd, 2015, 4:21 pm

Sayana mulled over the dhani’s explanation and chewed at her lip. It was plausible, and sometimes dhani just seemed to know things. Besides they had things to do and it wouldn’t help to waste time trying to pry it from his lips if he was hiding something. If he was even hiding something. She nodded at his invitation to head out and followed along after him. The streets were strange in this city and she certainly didn’t trust herself to find whatever place they were looking for.

Rey slowed slightly and Sayana spotted a spiralling staircase not all that different than the one they had come down. Yet there were enough distinct features to this entrance to determine that it was indeed a separate entrance. Or exit as far as the thief was concerned. The Eypharian curiously watched as the dhani inspected the bottom of the stairs. When he reported his findings, she looked to the stairs and back at him. Maybe it was just a dhani thing. Or maybe it was all one big trap. She couldn’t help but glance around warily, yet he had helped her with the lakan and he seemed genuine enough even on these dark streets.

“Wait by the stairs. It’s a good escape route and that was his original plan.” Sayana stated as she agreed to his plan. Now she had to find some place to hide. The problem was there were two different directions the thief could come from. The small room was just off an alley and although there were various doorways and alcoves she could hide within, Sayana wouldn’t know if the thief would come from the ‘far’ direction or would have to pass by her hiding spot to get to the stairs.

She didn’t like the set up but she’d have to make do. Sayana picked a doorway that was about a knife throw’s distance from the room Rey would be hiding in. If the thief came from her direction, she would hide until he passed her and then chase him to the stairs. Otherwise, she’d have to wait till the thief was nearly at the staircase and then scare him.

The Eypharian hid just within the doorway and was glad it was indented enough to conceal her. It was too bad she didn’t have a dark cloak, and she prayed to whatever goddess that her brilliant red outfit wouldn’t show. She had her two throwing daggers at the ready in her mid hands and every so often she would sneak a peek down the alleyway in both directions. At least one good thing about an alley was that it was hard to get a good look into doorways or alcoves until you’re nearly there.

And thus she waited. And waited. Impatiently she began to drum her fingers upon the cold stones. What if the thief decided on a different exit? What if the man at the shop had been lying? What if the thief had managed to get lost? It was nerve wracking to be waiting so long and she almost wished that they hadn’t managed to get there before the thief. Almost. She made another quick look and oh. Was that a shadow? More carefully peered out from the doorway so that her movement might not be noticed.

Aha, there he was. She might have even missed him for the dark clothing he wore. Unfortunately, he wasn’t coming in the ideal direction. He was moving briskly, which probably meant he was confident. Likely because he had just stolen a dagger of high value. It was a good thing that he was confident because she wanted him to keep moving in the direction he was going rather than back away at her appearance. Her heart raced as she waited for him to get closer to the room with the staircase. If she jumped out too soon, then she’d be chasing him in the opposite direction. But if he felt he could get up the stairs in time and lose her…

Sayana peeked out once more and quickly returned to her cover. He was about ten paces away from the room. Counting slowly she tried to gauge the appropriate amount of time. One, two, three… The Eypharian leaped out from her hiding spot with her throwing daggers out and ready. She gave two strong throws, first with her right mid and then with her left mid. She had already determined the distance and therefore the amount of spin she would need on the blades. The first one struck home sinking deep into the man’s thigh. The other was much less accurate and nicked the thief’s arm before clattering onto the cobblestones.

There was a moment of shock from the thief and then he sprung into action. Sayana actually waited half a tick to give him the head start and confidence he needed, and a satisfied expression crossed her face when he chose to go for the stairs. Then she bolted after him knowing that as soon as he came across Rey he might choose an alternate way to flee. She’d have to get to the door and block the entrance before it came to that.

As her feet pounded upon the stonework she drew her ornate cobra-hilted dagger along with her lakan. Quite frankly, she didn’t have a good feel for the Akalak blade but her enemy didn’t know that.

by **Yisanareysin** on September 4th, 2015, 2:03 am

As Sayana left to find a hiding spot, Rey turned to survey the room. The staircase was a little to the left of the entrance, a slight glow emitting from the top. It wasn't a very strong light, but it was noticeably there, enough that Rey could see that standing on that side of the entrance, he cast a shadow that could be seen from the alleyway. He doubted the thief would notice something like that, but why risk it? Besides, if the thief was looking to the staircase, waiting on the other side could hide his presence for that extra, vital tick.

The perfect hiding place located, Rey slithered over to it, dropped his pack in the corner, and settled down to wait. Again. To pass the time, he practiced keeping still, slowing his breathing into a slow, even rhythm.

In, and out. In, and out. If this thief sent him on a wild fox chase to another fence Rey was going to eat him.

In, and out. In, and out. Maybe after letting Sayana carve him up into smaller chunks.

In, and out. In, and out. The sooner he got this done with the sooner he could sleep off the lingering fatigue from the use of his sense.

In, and out. In, and-

Ah. Rey straightened up slightly as a noise caught his attention. The clatter of metal on stone, from the sound of it. For a tick he thought the man with the crossbow had caught up with him, before he remembered the number of knives Sayana had on him. There were footsteps too, rapid and uneven, coming towards him.

Rey smelled the thief before he saw him, the sharp tang of freshly spilled blood making his mouth water. A moment later, the thief came into view, seeming singularly focused on the stairs. The instant Rey saw him, he sprung.

In his mind, Rey had had it all planned out perfectly. The thief would come in running, and Rey would shoot out in front of him and have him wrapped up in his coils, nice and neat. The perfect execution of a perfect ambush. In practice, Rey's timing turned out to have been a little off, and Rey instead crashed into the thief's side, knocking him off his feet.

Eh. Good enough.

The man reacted faster than he expected, and rolled away, trying to scramble to his feet. Rey lunged forwards, seizing the thief by the shirt and pulling him backwards, again trying to wrap around him, to mixed results.

The good news was that Rey got his coils around a foot. The bad news was that the human's arms were still free. And reaching for the knife in his leg. Not fancying the idea of a knife in the face, Rey grabbed at the man's arm, pulling it away from the blade. The man's response was to hit him over the head with his free hand, hard enough to make Rey hiss in pain.

In the scuffle, the thief was somehow able to pull himself away from Reysin's grasping coils, though not before Rey grabbed the knife in his leg and yank it out.

They both scrambled upright, each keeping a safe distance from the other. Rey was coiled between the thief and the stairs, and bared his teeth in a cruel parody of a smile to scare the man a little. The knife in Rey's hand felt oddly balanced, and quite a bit smaller than he would have expected. He gave it a few swings, mimicking the movements he'd seen Sayana use when she'd had her dagger returned to her. It felt a little bizarre, but it was a blade nonetheless.

He hissed at the thief, rising up on his coils to loom over him. "Won't essscape ssso easssy."

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

by **Sayana** on September 9th, 2015, 11:47 pm

As Sayana ran towards the room with the staircase, she could hear a skirmish occur from within. She figured it would be rather one-sided with the thief already injured, but she wasn’t yet sure of the dhani’s abilities. With her two blades drawn, she reached the doorway and put her low hands on either side of the frame rather possessively. Was there no door? It would have been convenient but this “Underground” place didn’t seem the sort for convenience.

She caught the tail end of Rey’s threat and smiled at the beautifully dangerous poise he was in with all his coils. By this point the thief had certainly seen Sayana and his eyes darted nervously looking for a means of escape.

“Now there are a few ways we could do this,” she began as she relaxed her low hands on the door frame and started twirling her dagger in her mid right. “You could get out of here with much more than a limp.” She pointed her lakan at his leg, gesturing to the injury she had inflicted earlier. “Or you could tell us what we need to know and hand back anything you stole.” She began to approach him in a nonchalant way yet smiled as his eyes flickered to her lakan.

“Oh, recognize this? Yeah, you’ll be in for a surprise when you see the guy I took it from.” She grinned evilly, playing on his fears. The fence didn’t get hurt in the slightest, but he didn’t know that and she would happily lie to get what she wanted out of him. When Sayana was only a pace or two away from the thief, he made his move. There was a glint of metal and he rushed forwards with a knife, clearly his last resort. The Eypharian saw the movement and quickly blocked the attack with her dagger. Steel on steel rang, but in the next tick she followed through with a punch to the side of his head with her left high hand.

While the thief might have anticipated the initial block, the follow up blow caught him off guard and he staggered under the force. She grasped his wrist with a low hand and used her other low hand to begin prying the knife from his grasp. She aimed another hard punch to his jaw with her right high. Even though it wasn’t very strong, it was enough for her to finish disarming him with her low hands.

“So you did have another blade on you,” she taunted as she passed the knife to a high hand and restrained both his hands using her low hands. For a moment he struggled under her grip but when she brought her dagger to his throat he ceased. She eyed the knife for a moment and was curious to see a little discolouration near the tip. Was it poorly looked after or was someone carrying around poison with them? She suspected the latter and was glad he didn’t manage to get a proper strike in. Sayana did another shuffle of weapons so that her lakan was sheathed, her mids held the two blades and her highs were free to search him. She roughly pulled his hands behind his back and began patting down his clothes looking for pockets or bulges.

Pockets there were many, but mostly filled with unimportant things. There were thin wirey bits of metal, some coins, a bit of rope, a jar of oil and a rag. As the thief began shifting position Sayana pushed her dagger more firmly against his neck. “Unless you have somewhere very pressing to be…” She said with a forceful yank on his arms.

But even as she searched in various inner pockets she still couldn’t find anything noteworthy or of value. It was getting more frustrating by the tick and she subconsciously began to press her dagger into his skin. Even though he winced a little, he didn’t speak up. There was a hint of triumph in his eyes. What was it that Rey had wanted? A piece of gold jewelry?

“We want something you stole. It’s gold and valuable. Tell us where it is or I’m going to start carving things into your skin.” Sayana spoke forcefully. Her high hands continued to search. Inner pockets, outer pockets, cloak, shirt, pants… Then her eyes lit up. “Rey, pull off each of his boots.”

by **Yisanareysin** on September 11th, 2015, 11:33 pm

Sayana's sudden appearance saved Rey from having to pretend he knew how to use the tiny knife he was holding. Settling back on his coils, he was content to simply stay silent and look dangerous as she terrified the man into co-operating. It was so nice to work with someone who knew what they were doing.

When the thief attacked, Rey jerked in surprise, and raised his blade to help. Before he could do anything, however, Sayana had the human disarmed, restrained, and at knifepoint. Impressive. Having multiple pairs of arms just seemed so convenient.

Since she seemed to have the man well in hand, Rey lowered the knife in his hand, and slithered over to to retrieve his pack. Slinging it over his shoulders, he retrieved the letter he'd recieved from his client, and folded it so only the sketch of the crest was visible.

Slithering back to where the Eypharian was threatening to doodle on the thief with her daggers, Rey showed the picture to the thief. "Gold watch, and thisss on it. Sstolen dayss ago." The thief glanced at the drawing, and Rey thought he saw a flicker of.. something in his eyes, but the human said nothing, his face remaining blank.

When Sayana told him to pull off the man's boots, he had a moment of absolute bafflement, before he realised what she was hoping for. Handing the tiny blade back to whichever of her six hands were free, Rey withdrew his own flametongue. Swiftly cutting the laces on both of the man's boots, Rey tugged them off, and turned them upside down. From one boot fell another dagger, from the other, a leather covered bundle. Curious, Rey unrolled it, and found that inside was a collection of small metal tools. Thieves tools, he recalled they were called. Interesting.

It didn't seem like the man had the watch on him. Although...

Weighing the boots in his hand, Rey frowned. Something was strange. It almost felt like one was heavier than the other, but he'd already emptied the boots of their contents. Experimentally, he shook them, and felt something in the heavier one seem to bounce.

Turning to glance at the thief, he saw a flicker of worry in his face, and took it as a sign that he was on the right track. He shook the heavier boot again, tossing the other away. Whatever it was that was rattling, it was in the heel.

It would be so easy to figure it out it would barely take any effort at all it was just- Rey shook his head, dislodging the thought from his head. He had rules about this, he'd already pushed his sense to the limit, and this was far too trivial a matter to risk it. Besides, there were more conventional ways of figuring this out.

Inspecting the boot heel, Rey spotted an odd, curved seam running along the bottom. Grasping on to the back part, he first tried to pull it out, then push it from side to size. To his surprise, it budged, turning slightly clockwise. Twisting it the rest of the way through, Rey revealed a secret compartment, and the watch he was looking for within.

He grinned, holding it up to show Sayana, then carefully stowed it away in his pack.

"Thank you." He hissed sarcastically at the thief, smiling just wide enough to show some fang.

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

by **Sayana** on September 12th, 2015, 9:39 pm

“So it seems as though someone has been rather quiet and not cooperative,” Sayana drawled with a malicious glint in her eye. “Now what did I say about the different options you had?”

That got him speaking. “But you got what you wanted. The watch. That’s what you were looking for, right?” The thief stammered quickly as Sayana’s hands tightened around his wrists behind his back and she pressed her dagger meaningfully against his neck. “Look, you want the lock picking tools too? Take ‘em. I won’t be stealing nothing from you again. Just let me go.”

She wasn’t in Syliras anymore which meant that there were no knights that would be on her back if she didn’t let him go. But then, she didn’t know what other legal system replaced the knights here. “I’ll let you go, though you’ll have to see if my friend is so willing. But first, I want you to have a reminder of what happens when you steal daggers from me.”

The Eypharian sheathed her various daggers and moved around to face him, her low hands still holding onto his wrists. “Which hand do you steal with?” She demanded. “Huh?” “Which hand do you steal with?!” She repeated louder and more forcefully. There was obvious nervousness in his eyes as they darted back and forth. “My left,” he answered quickly in attempt to appease her. “What are you… No no no!” His eyes widened as she drew her lakan and he started struggling to get away. Yet the thief wasn’t built for brute force or even slithering out of a sticky situation and her hands grabbing forcefully upon his shoulders helped keep him from bolting.

“Your left…” She repeated suspiciously as she now held her lakan in her left mid. She couldn’t quite tell if he was lying. If he was, he was doing a good job. She decided to let the lying thief get the worse end of the deal but the truthful thief would still get a mark of her ‘appreciation’.

Sayana yanked his right hand forwards and used her lakan to carve three large cuts into the back of his hand. Two formed an ‘X’ and the third was a vertical line that went through the middle. The curve of the blade made it trickier than usual but it was fitting to have it done with the lakan. The thief gritted his teeth and breathed in a gasp at the pain. There was something very satisfying about the sweet revenge. She then grabbed his head with her highs and turned it to one side to make three more quick cuts upon his cheek in a similar fashion. She had lost interest in seeing his reactions and just wanted to see him bleed for the theft.

“Rey, anything else?” She asked off-handedly. If the dhani didn’t answer or seem to care about the fate of the man, she would swiftly draw her larger dagger and slam the cobra shaped pommel against the thief’s head. That would leave him unconscious and the two of them free of any more stammerings.

After the thief had been dealt with, Sayana held up her lakan for a moment looking at the intricate curves, now red stained. Had she been wrong in leaving? Could they have figured out things together? But when she made the decision, things simply hadn’t been going well. Would he even want to try to find her? With a sigh of regret she sheathed the blade back where it belonged. One day. One day things might be right again. Besides, she had a lifetime, since Akalaks seemed to live forever. A faint smile crossed her face at the last thought and she turned her attention back to her new dhani friend.

“We should do this again some time. You’re good at… figuring things out.” She waved her hand a bit as she attempted to come up with a better word but then just left it at that. “And thanks for helping me get it back.” She glanced down at the lakan at her hip and gave a smile to Rey.

by **Yisanareysin** on September 14th, 2015, 3:48 pm

Rey watched in delight as Sayana exacted her vengeance. Slithering closer, he stared hugrily at the thief, savouring the human's anguish. With the scent of blood in the air, the muffled gasps of pain, it felt soothingly familiar, if a little tamer than he was used to.

Siku's scales, he hadn't made a proper sacrifice in so long. The last one he'd made himself was when he'd come of age, some seventeen years go. He'd killed outside of Sunberth, but that one had been hastily done, out of fear of being discovered. Here, though, he could take his time. Here he could play until he was elbow deep in blood and his prey was flayed open. He could make the man watch as he took apart the human's hand, as he'd seen a priestess do once. Or find out how little of Rey's venom it would take to blind him, or find out what a human nose was made out of. So many wonderful possibilities, to have Lady Siku guide his blade and to slake his own bloodthirst.

But when Sayana offered the man to him, Rey shook his head. It was wonderfully tempting, but Rey had practical considerations. After his sacrifice, Rey would have to eat the man whole. Torture and murder was all well and good, but leaving food to waste was an offence to Caiyha. And a human sized meal would take days to digest, maybe even trapping him in this form until the turn of the season. He couldn't afford that wait. He had a deadline to keep, after all. Besides, he was reluctant to do anything that humans might consider too extreme, at least until he figured out just how far the Speakers' powers extended.

There would be other thieves, other opportunities for sacrifice. And this one was marked. If Rey ever came across this thief again, perhaps he would lucky enough to have time to play. Instead, while Sayana knocked the man out, Rey took the human up on his earlier offer, slipping the leather bundle into his pack. He had no idea how to use those tools, but he had to admit, he was very curious how long thin pieces of metal could be used to unlock a door. And, for that matter, how locks worked at all.

Rey cocked his head to the side as the Eypharian study her dagger, an odd expression on her face. Interesting. This did seem to lend credence to Rey's "sentimental value" theory on why she had been so distressed about its loss. Still, this was probably not the time to look into that.

Later, he promised himself again.

"Yess." He responded to her. There were things he wanted to say to her, about how he admired her strength and skill with those blades, about how good it was to have someone around who he didn't have to think of as food, about how much he missed the desert, but he didn't think he could adequately express any of it with his level of common. Instead he simply smiled, a genuine smile, without showing teeth or anything.

"Thankss."

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

by **Fable** on November 18th, 2015, 4:24 am

Sayana

Skills

Dual Wield: Dagger +3

Lores

Rewards/Consequences

-26 GM in total

Notes :

Reysin

Skills

Lores

Rewards/Consequences

Notes :

Closed Catching a Thief (Rey)