Northmyr

The City was quite dull for the day. People just minded their own businesses and Animals just lay on the cold snowy ground. It has been like this for a week, and the only thing out of the ordinary last week was that there was somebody who stole meat from the butcher. Some would think this life would be great for the guards, since they have nothing to do. On the contrary, the guards are getting weaker, they are not being honed and their training is composed of hitting Straw Dummies.

Silex began walking around the city. The streets weren't crowded and it seems there are more guards than civilians walking around town. Silex looked up and saw the sky was getting darker by the minute, his shift was about to start. Day and Night there are no difference, aside from that at day you would see 10 people in a street, by night that would be down to 2, of course excluding the guards on patrol.

"Sir, people are saying there is somebody, a child, injured in the Library," a soldier said saluting after running towards him. "A child?" he questioned and raised an eyebrow, how could a child be injure in this town. His mind was boggled on the fact. "OK, lead me to the child," he said and followed the guard. Soon they numbered by the 10s with Silex in the middle. They all stopped at the Library's entrance. 6 of the guards stationed in front and the 4, including Silex entered. They formed a diamond with Silex in front.

They walked with great synchronicity. And together they stopped in front of the child. "Good Evening child," Silex said with a deep noble voice, "What are you doing here? And where are your Parents?". Silex kept his composure, the child was really in rough condition. At this state, she was lucky to be alive, he had never seen any child that thin.

Ri'Jiish was hungry. He had been quietly appraising the market from a roof-top for solid marks for a few hours now. Unfortunately, there seemed to be more guards around than usual. This wouldn't normally be a problem, except for the fact that he had been trying to lay low for the last few days. He didn't need any extra attention drawn to himself. A bustle of movement caught his eye. The guards were heading off in the direction of The Great Library. As their numbers in the market diminished, he took his chance. Making his way to the edge of the roof, he swung himself down onto the ledge of an open window. From there he dropped several feet to the alley below. Wrapping his tail around his right leg he headed out into the square. His cloak billowed behind him, but he kept it clasped tightly around his body to stave off the chill in the northern air. It was twilight, the grey clouds above outlined with a soft pink hue. Nearing the closest stall (a fruit-seller's) he deftly snatched an apple and the purse of the fat nobleman perusing its wares. He hurried away before an alarm could be raised and silently tailed the guards. They joined a small contingent and a knight in black armour. They were all heading towards the Library, he was sure of it now.
His interest sufficiently piqued, but ducked into an alley-way and clambered silently up onto the roof-tops. He knew the way with little thought. From up here he could see the Library easily enough as it was. Munching his apple, he leapt across the gaps between the houses with no effort at all, making good time. He wanted to reach the building before the guards, so as to get a good look at the apparent situation before they arrived. He reached it in good time, and hoisted himself up and through an open window. They always made it so easy for him. There were no rooms per-se, simply hundreds of shelves piled high with tomes and scrolls. He hopped soundlessly from the tops of the shelves, towards the centre of the building, where he could see a small crowd. From his vantage point he could see that they were staring at a child. He smelt her before he saw her. She was filthy. He clothes were ragged and covered in grime and dust. With a sudden pang of protective guilt, he saw that her hands, feet and head were bleeding. This child needed help, whoever she was. He dropped from his perch and began to make his was towards the crowd, intending to thread his way through to the youngling. Suddenly his ears twitched. The tramp of steel boots signalled the arrival of the guardsmen and the knight.

Ri'Jiish shrank back, flattening himself against the nearest shelf and melted into the shadows. He watched the guards sweep past and through the crowd to stop directly infront of the child.
"Good evening child. What are you doing here? Where are your parents?"
Something was off about all of this. Ri'Jiish had the feeling that this was not simply some lost child. He decided, and decided quickly, that he didn't want the guards to get their hands on this youth. A distraction was needed. Making his way silently through the shadows he approached two men, one obviously a noble, the other of significantly less stature. He removed himself from the shadows, appearing behind them like a ghost, and bumping into the pair of them, at the same time swiping their purses. Mumbling an appology he swiftly headed around the side of a book-shelf and clambered up to its summit, threading his way along until he was closer to the crowd, the guards and, most importantly, the child. Settling himself, he waited patiently.

Suddenly, as if on cue a cry went up from the direction he had just come. The nobleman had likely accused the lesser of taking his coin, and the lower-classed human had obviously taken offence and said the opposite, for it sounded to Ri'Jiish as though something of a brawl had broken out. It was getting louder. No-doubt the nobleman had called out to his guards, and the not-so-nobleman had tried to attract the attention of his own friends. Hopefully that would draw the guards away long enough for him to grab the child and run. Sure enough, the crowd started to turn heads in the direction of the brawl. Ri'Jiish prepared himself to spring as soon as the guards were distracted.

Ainsley Rennen, the name had a nice ring to it. Of course it wasn’t her name. It was just an Alias she happened to be using at this point in time. She hadn't gone by her real name in quite some time. At the moment she was pretending to be Ainsley Rennen, the barmaid at a local tavern. She hated beer, and people, and taverns in general, but it offer her a good cover up during the day. During the night she was a much different person. The she in question was Lynx Blair, and at this point in time she was about to get into a fistfight with a noble.

The noble was shouting, “My purse is gone, and here you are, a commoner near enough to take it. You expect me to honestly believe you didn’t take it? RETURN MY GOLD!” Lynx’s eyes burned with fury. It figured that as soon as she stopped to ask the noble directions he’d steal her money than accuse her of taking his. She wanted to pull out her knife and show him exactly who he was dealing with, but there was too many guards around for that. She despised nobles, and apparently this one was no different.

“I. Did. Not. Take. Your. Money! You took mine!” Lynx shouted back. Her eyes had narrowed and she had begun to snarl she was aware of several guards arriving, a fact that did not bode well with her.

“Can You believe this noble?” Lynx spit out to some of the commoners who were watching. They nodded in agreement, and when the Nobles guards moved to take Lynx the commoners around her attacked. Soon a major brawl had started, all because the stupid noble had decided to take her purse. Well, this would teach him to mess with commoners.

It hadn’t been wise to take her purse, for she was Lynx the fugitive, and she needed that purse. In the fight she caught sight of the noble, he had been knocked unconscious and was lying on the ground. Lynx couldn't help but think about how much of a sissy the noble was, getting knocked out within the first five minutes of a fight. Lynx performed a quick search on his unconscious person, but found her purse was nowhere on him. She frowned if he hadn’t taken it then-

The man who’d bumped into her.

Lynx’s eyes narrowed, whoever it was they were going to regret this day. Lynx moved out of the fray and began to walk in the direction where the person who’d bumped her had ran to. Lynx would find him, and when she did, he was going to regret his actions.

Silex's eyes grew more cautious. He could sense that this was no ordinary "innocent" child. By the way she looks, she is a poor child, but much poorer than the rest. Certainly this child had no home. Her dress was ragged and he face was full of dirt. And by her smell, she must have been living with rats.

Her English was not perfect, but it was understandable. She seemed to spoke like a child without education. Silex wasn't a man who would give much sympathy, that was one of the traits of a knight as it would lower the chance of killing too late. He did feel that this child had enough problems, he didn't want to be adding to that list. Silex tried to think of something to help this child. There is this orphanage, it is ran by devoted religious women, they call themselves nuns. But despite being religious these nuns ruled with an iron fist, they swore at the children and he has seen these acts. The child was not really his problem so where ever the child would be, he wouldn't care. He just needed her to get out of the Library.

"Child..." he said before being interrupted by a noise. It sounded like a fight, from the outside.

"Men, go check what is going in," he commanded without even looking at the other guards, keeping his eyes on the child.

The child suddenly looked like she was going to make a run for it. "Child, if you try to leave, you will be put into sanction, violating the Rule that one must never run from a guard," he warned, hoping the child would understand. "But, do not be afraid, we have an orphanage for children like you," he said crossing his arms.

The knight peered the hooded figure as it was pulling the child away. Nonetheless, it was not his problem anymore. He kept on wondering though, that the child was something special, its like its not from here and its nobody he ever saw before. As one of the high Knights, he was able to see who is who, though he could remember faces, even ones he is not friends with, he hasn't seen the girl's face before. He has seen that hooded figure though, many times, and many times it was just walking aimlessly.

He felt something was not right, the dull town seems to be heading into something big. Silex went into deep thinking, he looked at the hooded figure, dragging the little child.

"Could he be a relative to the child? Let poor be poor I guess"

He was glad though, that he hadn't need to get her into the orphanage. One of the civilians cautiously walked towards him. She was a commoner, she had her hands cuffed to each other to show that she means no harm or provoke. "Sir, the child came from the sewers," she said humbly with her head facing the floor.

Silex raised his eyebrows. "The entrance is there," she pointed at the hole the child came from. Without thanking the woman, he walked towards the hole. It was deep, probably 20 feet, he couldn't tell, it was pitch black. "Where did this thing come from?" he thought to himself, putting a finger on his chin, "Where does this hole lead?". He looked to his left, at the hooded figure and girl, they were gone. A guard entered to his right, "Sir, the fight has been stopped, we are now detaining the ones who participated," the guard said with his right hand on his head.

"Very well then," he told the guard then looked at the hole once again, "Get somebody to look at this hole, we need to know where that child came from". Then it hit him, the child could be from the Catacomb, but without proof, he could be sending them on a wild goose chase and the child was just innocent. He first needed to know what is in this hole.

Spider cursed inwardly as the man who had addressed her, someone whom she could only assume was the leader of the group, remained behind while others went to go and deal with the problems outside. She had no opportunity to rush off or get out of reach...and she wasn't entirely sure what the man meant, but it was apparently to do with taking her somewhere...something she doubted was a good idea at all.

Just then however, the hooded figure hurried out and began to speak.

She had no idea who this fellow was...or why he was sticking his neck out for her sake...but it took her only a moment to realize what he was trying to pull. Spider wasn't any stranger to deception, and as soon as she caught on she hurried over, attempting to feign familiarity.
Upon reaching the hooded man she lowered her head, addressing him in the manner of a child being scolded.

"Sorry...got a bit lost.." she stated quietly, before moving along with him, attempting to look suitably sullen about the admonishment she was receiving, hoping that the facade was going to hold up until both of them were well out of the way of the guard. She wasn't entirely sure what her apparent saviour's intent was. Spider was used to the idea that you never got anything for free, and she wondered what his incentive for helping her was...but at the same time she was pretty certain that she was in a better situation facing this figure in the worst situation, than she was facing all those armed men.

Lynx held back as the man neared the guards. She didn’t dare go closer. She had disguised herself fairly well, but she feared that there might be some guards among the upper ranks who would recognize her nonetheless. She watched as the man risked his neck to save the child and frowned in confusion.

Why would he do such a thing? After having just stolen the purses of two people it would have been smartest if he had run, but instead he’d stop to rescue an out of luck girl. Lynx didn’t think he was actually related to her, she seemed far too surprised at his arrival for that to be true. So what would posses him to help the girl? It wasn’t something she would have done. Lynx shrugged, chances were he was just a better person than she was.

Lynx ran ahead of the man and girl until she found a shadowy alleyway. She waited until they were near enough and then stepped out in front of them. Ever one for theatrics she smiled as she walked up to the two, as if they were old friends.

Upon reaching them she continued to smile and asked, “Excuse me sir, but I believe you stole my purse. I’d appreciate it if you would return it to me.” Her words and her smile were kind enough but her eyes were like ice as they glared at him. Her words carried a double meaning as well, she wouldn’t fight him if he chose to give her the purse willingly.

Ri'Jiish yanked open the library door, poked his head out into the cold evening air, and sniffed. The coast was clear. No metallic tang in the air of mail or plate to suggest that guards were nearby. He smiled to himself and began to guide the young girl towards what he liked to call 'The down-and-out', the poorer district of the city. He had a bolt-hole in an abandoned building in the warehouse district. It was spacious, and most importantly it was warm. He led the child through the emptying streets, wending his way through the side-passages and alleys silently and as swiftly as he could with the small human in tow. As he rounded a corner his sensitive nose picked up a scent he couldn't quite place. Then the woman appeared. Ri'Jiish halted, placing an arm infront of the girl. His pupils widened to allow him to see this newcomer better in the rapidly failing light. A gruff, throaty growl rose almost imperceptibly from within his chest. Then the woman spoke.

"I believe you stole my purse. I'd apprieciate it if you would return it to me."

Ri'Jiish almost laughed right then and there. Untensing his muscles, he reached into his cloak. His fingers closed around the coin-pouch and he withdrew it, held it up for her and then in a single swift motion he tossed it to the cobbles at her feet. Turning his head, he looked down at the child.

"Climb up onto Ri'Jiish's back now child. We will use less enclosed paths, yes."

He lowered himself down so she could clamber up, and then, making sure she was secure, sprang into the air. The extra weight hampered him slightly, but he found purchase on a ledge and scrambled up to the roof with more-than-enough ease. Reaching the summit he set off in the direction of the warehouse district, leaping from building to building with the girl clinging to his back. Occasionally, just to be safe, he doubled back and went around on himself. You could never tell when someone was trying to track you. They were two ghosts against the blackness of the sky now, and this was his world. No-one would be able to follow them easily. He wondered how long it would take for the woman who confronted them to realise that the pouch he had thrown at her feet was not, infact, hers. It was instead a dummy, full of fool's gold and pebbles.

Lynx stooped to grab the purse as the two figures darted away. She opened it up a growled. It wasn’t her purse. The purse she was looking for had a few gold coins, a vial containing red plant dye, a jewel she’d stolen from a nobleman, and most importantly a sheet containing all of the information about the person she was currently pretending to be. The real Ainsly Rennan had died of flu several months ago. Lynx growled as she shifted through the purse she’d been given. It was full of nothing more than imitator’s gold and pebbles.

Lynx climbed up the roof of a nearby house until she was at the highest point possible. Grinning she unhooked her ropes from around her belt. If that guy thought he could escape by rooftop he was sorely mistaken. She slowly began to twirl the rope through the air until it had enough momentum. She threw the rope and it hooked onto the chimney of house far ahead of her.

Lynx leaped off the building, one arm holding onto the rope and her other arm already twirling a second rope. As she reached the top of her arc she threw the second rope and unhooked the first one. Quickly reining in the first rope she threw it as she reached the top of her second arc and reigned in the second rope. Soon she picked up speed and was flying from roof to roof on the ropes as she searched for the man who’d tricked her.

After some time her muscles were aching and she’d yet to see sign of the guy she was chasing. She gritted her teeth, of course she would pick the one person who was faster on rooftop then her to get robbed by. She had almost given up when she saw them out of the corner of her eye. He moved quickly, if she hadn’t bee concentrating on searching she wouldn’t have found them.

Lynx moved fast until she was close enough to see the man with the girl on his back moving over the rooftops. When she was close enough she stopped and hung on one rope. Reaching out she threw the second rope to try and wrap it around the mans legs and trip him.

"Lady Elise, please come inside. You'll catch cold..."

Elise turned to look at one of the maids, and the woman gave her a look of concern. She nodded, responding with "I'll be right in," before turning to look back over the city below. She stood there for a moment, and then stepped back into her room, pulling the robe from around her shoulders and handing it off to the woman. The maid, of course, began to mutter quietly to herself about how cold the robe was, and that it was slightly wet from the snow, and that Elise was going to catch her death if she didn't change into something warm soon. The woman rushed all about, taking the old robe with her, and soon returning with a new, fluffy warm one, as to which she quickly slipped onto the younger girls arms and promptly tied off for her.

Elise thanked the maid, before asking to be left alone to read. The woman nodded, and rushed out of the room. The young Royal smiled slightly - if anything, her maids always tended to amuse at the very least.

Taking a seat in one of her high backed, over stuffed chairs, she tucked her feet under her as she slouched to the side, a thick book of political policies in her hands. She thumbed through until she found where she had left off, and quickly lost herself in its pages.

It wasn't a horribly interesting read, but she found it necessary all the same. Maids and servants came and went from her room, until finally her own father stopped in.

"Elise, you can't stay up here all day."

Her eyes flicked up from the page she was currently on, and rested on his well-aged face. A smile touched her lips at the sight of him, and her eyes seemed to crinkle with a certain happiness. "Father, you know I won't stay up here all day."

"Well, I don't know that for certain. Come. Make yourself presentable and at least move about some. I've got business to attend to today, so I can't keep coming back to check in on you. I want to know that you're moving about today - studying is important, but too much will age you like I have been aged."

Elise sighed, but offered her father a smile all the same. "Alright, I'll be down in a minute or two." Lord Ashald left the room, closing the door behind him, and Elise took to the task of changing into something fitting, that was decent enough and still warm. Before leaving the room, she quickly slipped a miniture-sized book of important phrases of old into one of her pockets, intending on studying it later... even though her father had said she should basically have a "day off".

Stepping from her room, she made her way through the halls, and descended the stairs to the ground level of the family estate, passing many servants and maids on the way there.

Things seemed to be going pretty well. The guard seemed at least temporarily prepared to leave her alone, and at that point, it was all she could ask for at that point. She was a little surprised at the feeling of the snow on her feet, repressing the immediate urge to leap back into the doorway, but she forced herself to maintain composure and walk along through the strange, damp substance, and to put some distance in between her and the guard.

It was fine...until she made the mistake of looking upward. Spider had spent all of her lifespan in passages, crypts and caves. Some had high ceilings, some could only be described as caverous....but she had never seen the sky before. The sight of it made her jaw slacken involuntarily, and it took all her will power not to let her knees give way. As a result she was barely listening as the figure approached them. After a few moments she caught onto Ri'jiish's command, and stumbled up to the man, grabbing hold as he took off at a considerable speed across the cityscape.

She clung onto the figure's clothing, trying to suppress the profound feeling of nausea welling up inside her. The combination of this weird and enormous space, and the speed that they were moving at left her feeling very dizzy, and more that a little ill. Thankfully she hadn't eaten for a few days before her encounter with the Rat King's men, so she didn't have to face the embarrassment of throwing up on her rescuer.

When Spider eventually summoned the courage to lift her head from her hands and peer out across the speeding rooftops, she did so in time to see a rope sweeping out towards them.

"Mister! Look out!" she exclaimed, a little more panicked than she would have liked to sound at that point, in between the colossal vertigo she'd gotten stricken with, and the possibility that they'd soon both be hurtling down to a skull-shattering end on the pavements below, the panic did feel justified.