Closed A Street Walked[Evalynn Frostfawn]

[Morose]

15 Fall 523 The Daggerhands as an organization were neither nice nor friendly. While compared to other groups and gangs in Sunberth they were looser in their requirements, they still put their possible recruits under harsh trials to see if they had what it takes to become a brother or sister. With this in mind recruits, under the watchful eyes of their overseeing brother or sister, would be sent out to do various tasks and show their mettle. Rob people. Kill them. Destroy property. Capture people for enslavement. Anything that would profit the Daggerhands and show the recruits had the proper skills and ruthlessness to get things done. At the moment one such brother was standing down a dark alley in Sunberth with a pair of young recruits. Both were young, only fourteen or fifteen years old. But with that in mind they were both considered adults and responsible for themselves, and looking to move up in the world and join a gang for protection and possible riches. Both were scrawny and looked half starved, but they both had a fire in their eyes which meant they wanted to show their ability. They would do whatever they were asked to do if it meant they would become a member properly of the Daggerhands. Success could lead to membership. Membership would mean a full belly, a place to stay, and more than dust in their coin purses. Failure would mean... Well failure was not something either even thought about. With a mix of the surety of youth and hunger both physical and metaphorical the two were driven to act. The taller of the two was about five foot eight, but skinny for his size. He had short brown hair that was a bit ragged, like someone had taken a dull knife and hacked it away till it was short enough. He was wearing little more than rags sown together, various pieces of cloth so worn out that even Sunberthers would toss them out. And then those pieces had been sown together until a full outfit of shirt and pants was made. His feet was simply bound in rags, rather than any proper foot wear. He had a small wooden cudgel, little more than a stick that had been cut to shape a small bit by rough unsure hands until it was slightly better than a tree limb or a basic simple club. Most of his body seemed to be covered in a thin layer of grime, though if he had any odor it was covered up by the greater stench of Sunberth and its ever burning fire filling the air with a foul smell. His partner was similarly dressed, but a bit shorter at five foot six. He had just a fuzz of blonde hair on top of his head, and not so much as a full lock to be seen as his hair had been cut properly but almost to the scalp. Other than height and hair style he was equipped more or less the same as the taller boy, except rather than a wooden cudgel he had a dagger length shard of metal with one end sharpened to a point of sorts and the other end wrapped in some worn leather to keep it from cutting his hand. The two youth stood on, watching their overseeing brother in turn along with the street and those passing along it past the end of their alley. Watching, trying to see what the man could see, hoping to make out some sign or other that indicated what they were to go after. He saw many people head past without saying anything, eyes flicking from one person to the next. Looking at their clothing, the objects on them, their belts, weapons if they were visible, and other such signs that did not even register to the unskilled youth. People walking in groups, or alone. And then he saw a person who met all of his requirements and finally the brother spoke while looking at each of them in turn. “Her. She'll do. Bring her back here alive and intact. No hacking her up or killing her, she wont sell as well if she's all marred. Maybe a few bruises, but that's it, got it? Do that, and we will see about you moving on to bigger and better tests. ” The youth silently looked where the man was pointing, and once his directions were done both nodded silently before charging off down the alley. By the time they reached the end the woman who had been pointed out would have walked a bit along the road if she had kept moving. Spending a moment they would find their target again, and once one of them found her they would point at her and both would begin racing after her again.

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

Eva was dressed in simple clothes as she walked down the street. She had a plain looking, linen headscarf wrapped around her head to cover her hair and some home made concealer to make her look a little more rugged. In her arms, she carried an empty backpack for her to carry her shopping that she was out to get. The list she looked over was a mix of food, clothes, and supplies for her new hobby. It was exciting to think about the prospects that this hobby could bring, and the possible trials that would follow. Her mind was so engrossed in weaving through the crowd and thinking about the hobby that she forgot the one rule of walking Sunberth streets. Keep your guard up. She was about to turn another corner when two young boys stopped her in her tracks. They were obviously of poor health, with their scrawny bodies and dirty appearance. Usually, Eva would ignore these kinds of people by walking by and not giving them the time of day. But the weapons they were holding, and the fiery passion in their eyes gave her chills and set off her internal alarms. “Ah, excuse me. I didn’t mean to-” She was cut off when the two boys smirked at each other. She had to get out of there, now. She took a step back, to which the boys followed with a step of their own. She looked around for assistance, but anyone she made eye contact with turned away and ignored her. She was on her own and had to fend for herself. Her eyes flitted back to the boys before they briefly glittered with a green, then she threw her bag at the one with the piece of metal before taking off down the street as fast as she could. She didn’t dare look back, and instead kept her eyes forward to look for ways to escape. Her mind was racing for possible places she could go to escape. She wasn’t very good at evasion, but with the business of the people around it, it should help just a tiny bit. Even if she was ramming her shoulders into people and apologizing profusely while running, it was better than going in a straight line on an empty street. Her chest was starting to tighten, and breathing was feeling like she was engulfing flames of hellfire, but she had to push on. She couldn’t be caught, she had to get back to her family. Word Count: 418

[Morose]

Coming upon the woman, the two young men were sure they could easily overpower her. And so upon reaching her they did not speak right away or make their demands, instead showing force by pulling out and displaying their weapons. This, they hoped, would be intimidating and cow the woman into inaction and compliance. Instead, before either of them could say a word, the woman began to speak. They did not completely listen as she spoke, moving forward slowly so as not to spook her but also not wanting to let her get away. When she moved back a step they moved forward. All of it was happening fast for the two newly minted thugs on their first test. Finally when one of them was about read to speak, the shorter of the two, the woman acted first. All of this had happened across moments, moments spent slowly since the two had come into direct conflict with the woman, and yet in this instance the woman they were accosting acted first. Of all the responses they expected her to have, she did one that was not expected by either of them and therefore successfully caught them both off guard. She did not run right away, or attack. She did not come in swinging, or draw her blade. Instead... She threw her armload of stuff, and used it as a weapon by tossing it at them. This worked even better than the Vantha could have hoped, as she managed to throw them directly at the one about to take charge and explain how things stood to their target. "Yuh..." That was as far as he got, one syllable, before the weight of goods struck him by surprise. So surprised by this was he that he ended up losing his footing and falling to the ground, the goods in the bag falling with him only to spill out every which way once he came to a stop. With her impromptu weapon thrown and her bit of subterfuge accomplished, the Vantha turned and began running, trying to flee the two youth. The other young thug, the one with the wooden cudgel, was still standing, but had been momentarily stunned by her actions. However this did not last long, and while the shorter youth was still on the ground and trying to find his footing he began chasing after the woman with his weapon drawn and in hand. While he was scrawny and half starved he was still able to run at a decent speed, and though he started out a few seconds after thee Vantha woman, he was soon hot on her heels. Whats more, the longer the woman ran the more clear it became she was not the peak of fitness and training either. She had little to no skill in running, had built up little endurance, and was not going to last long in a foot race. She also had little combat skills, nor was she particularly good at hiding herself or slipping through small openings for quick escapes. "Get back here!" the remaining youth chasing her yelled, following in closely behind her. As he did he was slowly getting close to her, closing in inch by inch. Having been running only a short while he was already starting to get winded, but he had as much if not more stamina as the woman and would at least be able to keep up the action of running as long as her if not a bit longer. Soon enough she would have to make a decision. If she simply kept running away, then the youth would catch her and a fight would ensue. However if she kept running at least for a short while, she would come up to a crossroads, a small four way intersection of the passages through Sunberth. There was the path behind her where they had come from. The pass straight in front which seemed relatively open and was the way Evalynn had originally come from. However having come from that way she knew there was not anything in particular that way that would be of help. No sudden cut offs, hiding spots, or places to bar pursuers. Along with front and back there was also left and right. However as they were in a chase the Vantha woman would not have long to pause and think or examine her choices, otherwise the youth chasing her would catch up. At a quick glance the left pass seemed open, at least near the entrance, but quickly turned again to the left and went out of sight. At a quick glance the right pass seemed rather cramped, where some housing had been used to expand outward and thus limiting the streets breadth. This road seemed to continue on straight and not turn, but it was hard to make out due to the houses obscuring the road in odd spots on either side. At this point the Vantha was left with a choice. Turn and fight. Or keep running. If she kept running she would soon need to make another choice among the 3 passages, front, left, or right... Or perhaps she could do something else entirely if she was inventive and quick on her feet. Either way no one she passed before her choice would need to be made would look interested in helping, and in fact seemed more ready to ignore her than anything else. If anything she simply got a few curses thrown at her as she bumped into people, the same as the youth chasing behind her got.

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

Soon, a choice was presented to her and she quickly made one. She had pictured it in her head while she ran, a quick stop and a sharp turn while baring her dagger at the child. She had very, very little experience with dagger fighting, but knew just enough to be able to injure someone. She also had a very vague idea of where vital spots could be just by using common knowledge, so for a child of this size, she held a bit of hope in the matter. Her plan was enacted when she took a sharp right turn into the narrow and restrictive alley. She prayed this plan would work to some degree. Putting her hand on the hilt of her dagger and yanking it out, Eva spun around on her heel and immediately went to tackle the youth onto the ground. If she got the boy to the ground, or even was able to make contact with him, then she would immediately thrust her dagger into his left side to try and aim for a kidney. She would then attempt to shove away from him and scramble back onto her feet to continue her adrenaline fueled escape. She would run down the tight alley, stumbling and dodging any obstacle that she could as best as she could. While she did so, she also started knocking stuff down and in the way. She knew her limit was fast approaching, and any opportunity to buy time was precious. However, if she was caught before she could escape again by either one of the boys, she would attempt to kick and slash in their direction while on the ground. Keeping the image of where she was trying to aim for vivid in her mind, she would attempt to guide her dagger in that general line. It wasn’t very effective, but her life was on the line and she must survive. “Get away from me! I swear, I am not afraid to kill a couple of kids!” She screamed in a shaky tone, not from fear, but from creeping exhaustion. The fighting may be adrenaline fueled, but her endurance was slowly seeping. She would switch back and forth between kicking as hard as her thighs could muster or trying to land another piercing attack. She knew that her emotions were flying all over the place, and that there was no way in hell she could keep her eyes hidden. She glared at them with eyes the brightest shade of steel blue to reflect her highly stressed situation. Word Count: 426