Flashback A Learning Experience

[Yisanareysin]

23rd of Fall, 511 AV

“Look kid, it’s not that hard.” Kyla patted Reysin on the back, eye glittering gold with amusement. Reysin narrowed his eyes in return, and sat back in his chair, folding his arms. After a moment, he looked away, checking around the tavern for anyone who might be listening in on their conversation. “Stop that. You’ll be fine, you’ve watched me work before.”
”Watched. No do before.” Reysin grumbled, hunching deeper into his chair.
“Well, there’s a first time for everything. I didn't apprentice you just so you could protect me.” The Vantha responded cheerfully. “Come on Rey, it’s not gonna be that bad.”
”Can do firsst time when not on job?” Reysin tried. Kyla beamed at him.
“See? You’re getting the hang of convincing people to do things. Now, all you need to do is convince him” She nodded at a large man across the room, seated by himself, nursing a mug of something “to tell you when his weekly game of Stammer and Blush is. That’s all. Go on, give it a try."
Reysin sighed, studying his mentor’s face. Despite her smile, she had that determined look and color in her eyes, the one that said she had decided Reysin needed to learn something in particular.

She was probably right, but Akajia, did it have to be in the middle of a job? He’d spent days casing the man’s house, bought a horse, and stolen a deck of cards, swapped out a few cards so there were duplicate whips and slag heaps, and then replaced it without the owner noticing. If he got this part wrong, all that work would go to waste.

"It'll be fine, Rey. Trust me.”

Kyla nudged him sharply, and he stood reluctantly, shooting her a glare before strolling over to the target’s table as casually as he could. All he had to do was get the man to tell him a time and place. That was all. Easy. No problem. Sitting at the target’s table, Reysin smiled at the man, trying to project as much friendliness as he could. The human looked up, and glared at Reysin. “Petch off.”

Alright, so this was going to be harder than he thought. Reysin’s smile wavered under the human’s withering glare, but he pushed away his nervousness, and extended his hand. ”Name is-“
“I said petch off. Or do you not understand what that means?” Reysin swallowed nervously. Alright, maybe it was time to change tactics.
”Hear you are perssson to meet for cardss.” He tried, leaning forwards conspiratorially. The human seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a tick, and then leaned closer to Rey.
“You heard wrong. You want to gamble your money away in a card game, go talk to Tall Johnny. Now, you want to kindly petch off, or take a dive into Shyke Creek?” He hissed.

Well. This was just wonderful.



NoteShadowed text is Kyla using a hypnotic suggestion on Rey without him noticing.

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

The clever thing to do would be to take the man’s advice and leave, lest he make good on his threat. But the idea of conceding defeat so quickly stuck in his craw, and really, how bad could just one more try be?
”Can pay the- gurck“ Reysin choked mid sentence as the human’s hand shot out and grabbed him by the throat.
“I said.” The man growled, rising up, and taking Reysin with him. “Petch. Off!” Reysin grabbed on to the mans hand as he began to squeeze, trying desperately to pry his fingers off of Reysin’s throat. So, apparently, one more try could be really, really bad. His focus was entirely on the man choking him, until a flash of movement caught his eye. Looking past the man, Reysin saw Kyla sneak up behind a bystander, and shove her in the direction of the target. The target’s fingers loosened when he was knocked into, and Rey took the opportunity to yank himself out of his grasp.

Freedom! Rey wasted no time, immediately turning to scamper out the door and race down the street, dodging around, and occasionally knocking into passersby. He rounded first one corner, then another, then another, weaving through the streets of Sunberth, trying to keep track of where he was as his legs and throat burned. When he was certain no one was following him, he finally stopped, doubling over and wheezing with exertion. There was a painful tight sensation in his side, and he leaned against a wall as he recovered.

Footsteps sounded behind him, and Rey startled, diving for cover behind a stack of crates. Akajia preserve him, he thought, touching his throat as he pushed himself further into his hiding spot. The feeling of fingers shutting off his air supply… He closed his eyes, trying to calm his pounding heart. The footsteps he'd heard faded away, and he breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Alright, he was alright. He was alive, the man wasn’t chasing after him, and Kyla..

Kyla! Oh petch he had to go back, she was still in the tavern with that man and with Reysin gone, he’d turn his anger on anyone associated-
Wait, no. No one in that tavern knew Reysin and Kyla were in cahoots, especially not their target. But they still needed to know the time and place of the card game, and he just knew Kyla would go for it, risks be damned. Gods, but there were so many things that could go wrong, especially now that Rey had tipped the man off that they were probing for details about the card game. Ugh, he’d told her not to make him do it. Why she couldn’t wait until the job was done to teach him, he still didn't understand.

Recalling the turns he’d taken earlier, Reysin made his best attempt at retracing his steps. Before long, he found himself across the street from the tavern he’d escaped from mere chimes ago. Siku, but he must have a death wish. Couldn’t risk going in, but from this angle, he could see Kyla chatting with the target. Things didn’t seem to be going badly, but Reysin was very aware of how quickly things could change.

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

Glancing around, he sized up the area. There was a dark alley right across from the tavern which would give him a good view, but anyone coming out the door would be able to spot him instantly, and his long, silvery hair made him fairly distinctive. He could also try a corner slightly further out that was slightly more hidden, but from that distance, he'd have no way of knowing what was happening inside, which sort of defeated the purpose of him hanging around in the first place.

Dilemmas dilemmas.

Suddenly, the decision was made for him when the door to the tavern opened up. Darting into the protective darkness of the far alley, Reysin watched from the shadows as Kyla followed their target out the tavern, and down the street. They were, fortunately, heading in the opposite direction of Reysin. He waited until they were a good distance away, then cautiously began to follow them. He stuck to the side of the streets, ready to make a quick exit if he thought he was going to be spotted. He tried his best not to look like he was tailing anyone either, varying his speed, avoided looking directly at them, everything he'd been taught. It was easier in theory than it was in practice, and truth be told, Rey wasn't very good at it.

Fortunately, Kyla was apparently very distracting, as the man didn’t look back even once, which, Reysin had to say, seemed pretty unusual in Sunberth. Admittedly, all the people he had been associating with and following had been spies, people with enough enemies that one of them had hired spies, or people who hired spies to follow their enemies, so perhaps his perception was a little skewed.


He didn’t dare risk getting close enough to hear them, but he supposed he didn’t really need to. Kyla would tell him the relevant details later. He was just here to make sure she was safe. Wouldn't do for him to lose his mentor before learning everything he could from her, and he had to admit, he was rather fond of her. Even if she did do things like this to him.

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

Eventually, Kyla leaned in to pat their target’s arm twice, her hand lingering on his bicep. Slowing his pace, Reysin let himself be surrounded by the crowd, recognising the signal Kyla always used to signify that she was separating from a mark. Sure enough, the two of them soon split, with their target continuing on down the street, and Kyla heading off into a side alley.

Reysin followed her as casually as he could, speeding up until he was walking by her side.
“I have to tell you Rey, that was pretty bad.” She grinned up at him teasingly, eyes flickering from green to gold. He glared in return, a tinge of colour rising in his cheeks.
”Ssaid it would be bad.”
“Aah, it could have gone worse. My last apprentice managed to get attacked after just one sentence.” Reysin frowned, realising something.
”Knew would fail.” He accused, his face twisting into an angry scowl. She simply shrugged, eyes fading into a cool icy colour.
“A man like that, you can’t just go up to him and convince him to talk. Easiest way in is an icebreaker, like, "Can you believe the idiots we get around here?". You were perfect, by the way.”
”Why not tell me?”
“Because, I wanted to see how you’d do. I can’t very well teach you if I don’t know where you need to improve.”
Reysin narrowed his eyes at that, making it clear that he wasn’t happy. “Oh hush. I’m looking out for you here. You’re apprenticed to me so that you can learn the spying business, aren’t you?”

Reysin snorted at that, and gave her a flat look. They both knew that his apprenticeship had come about due to certain… circumstances. ”Flynn.” He retorted, illiciting a sharp bark of laughter from Kyla, and a shift into blue eyes.
“You were only mostly blackmailed, kid. And besides, I seem to recall offering you the chance to leave after one season was up, and yet, here you’ve stayed. We both know that staying with me was the best decision you could have made.”

Reysin had to admit, he couldn’t argue with that. Even though she could frustrate him at times, she was a decent enough teacher, and more importantly, sticking with her was the best way for him to learn how the spy trade worked here in Sunberth.

“Anyways, it was a good effort, but you were going about it the wrong way. Being friendly doesn’t always work, especially not in Sunberth. People here are too suspicious, too afraid that everyone’s out to get them. So you have to figure out the right way to approach a mark, or you might end up, well-” She mimed getting strangled, sticking her tongue out and making a “gak” noise in her throat. Despite himself, despite the memory of fingers closing in on his throat still lingering, Reysin found himself snickering at her impression.

“Come on, we’re here.” Glancing up, Reysin paused, and frowned. He’d assumed they were going back to her house to prepare for the next stage of their plan. Instead he found Kyla had led them to yet another tavern.
”Why we here?” He asked, puzzled.

“What, you really think I’d just explain all of that and then not give you a chance to work on it? Come on.” She told him cheerfully. “Practice makes perfect, you know.”

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic