Viva La Vida [IC]

[Sheff]

"You think I haven't realized that yet?" Sheffer responded, a frown forming on his lips.

Of course, he now remembered this man, but only faintly. On his twelfth birthday, his father had ordered a finely made lute to be delivered to the castle; one of a few gifts to his son. Sheffer had played around with it, strumming the strings through random notes, enjoying the sound. It had soon found its place in the far corner of his room, and was soon forgotten, only to be noticed periodically over the years. He now felt a bit ashamed, knowing the work that had been poured into the instrument, only to have gathered dust for most of its existence.

"I worked as a blacksmith's apprentice for the last three years," said Sheffer, bringing himself back to the present. "Don't think I do not know how it is to be a peasant."

The man shook his head. "Never said you didn't know how it felt, I only said not to treat me as one. If you ever wind up having a whole city wanting you dead and the rest spitting in your face every time you try to be friendly, come back and tell me how much hell it truly is."

"I may have an army full of guards who would kill me on sight if they knew of my presence within the city, but I do not think spit to the face would be my welcome from most," he replied. "From what I've heard, the city has lost whatever glory my father managed to make."

"I've personally watched that glory fade away with the lives of honest men, my friend." stated the lutenist as he sat in a nearby chair. "Raised taxes, drunken guards roaming the streets for money and women, executions for simple crimes, people hunted down, random disappearances..." He shrugged. "Not to mention the new crime rate."

"Couldn't expect anymore from Malus..." muttered Sheffer, continuing to remain standing. He may have felt some trust towards this man, but he had not earned his respect for them to sit comfortably like old friends. Looking down upon them, he glanced around the room, seeing the large amount of papers scattered around.

"Now, I'll tell you this..." he began, facing the man once more. "You sound smarter then most. I knew Malus wouldn't be capable of covering up my supposed 'death' all to well, but I knew it would be enough to pull the public in. Seems as though you managed to see through that clever little guise and managed to bring up some information of my well-being." Sheffer stared at him for a moment before continuing. "What exactly did you find? Or, in other words, would any of these papers of yours, or their previous owners, help me?"

[Dark Hero]

Sable walked quickly down the new empty path. The guard was now clink-clanking his boots faster, as he started to notice her within his reach. "I've got you now, my preciouuss," his voice spoke, a breath of strong wine seeping from his mouth. He pulled out his dagger, just in case if she tried to run, he was confident enough that he would outrun and try to capture her in his steel grip.

Hearing the voice, Sable picked the ends of her dress off the concrete ground and started to run. Fear rushed through her anxious heart. An alert sense of sight caused her to look around at every unfamiliar area in town. One way would lead her into a dead end. Another would probably lead her to safety. Which way to turn? Which path to ultimately choose? She didn't know for sure if the guard was dangerous enough, but he would turn her in, and to the Lord Malus himself. Thinking to herself, she would likely be kissing the foul boots of the man while he would forcefully plunge her face in the dirt they stood in.

She lingered onto this thought. It was purely disgusting - having a woman, a fragile creature, bow down defiled and wretched a slave. The poor girl just moved here and with this much information she had retrieved from folks around the town, she was on the edge of feeling like she had a mistake coming here...

The guard ran as well, holding the dagger tightly in his clutch, a silver shine of the blade glistening in the dark. "Verrry cle-clever to run..." he spoke again, sounding like the drunken man he was. It was a bit plausible to think maybe he had more shots than he intended. In this chase, he was the not-so-clever one. He was panting more than the average man should run, making his chest heavy and voice weak with words. Thus, Sable could use it to her advantage if he was audible enough.

But he sort was, actually. In a raspy voice, he spoke again, "No..." A nasty cough escaped his throat. "You won't..." as well as another. "Escaape..." He felt rather ill to his stomach, but he wouldn't stop to take a breath. Such drunken illusions were coming onto him, almost like a black-out.

Sable dared not to look back though she could hear him coughing and panting heavily. This gave relief, as she would most likely succeed in the chase. The catch was, however, which way to hide. Every small building and house she passed was out and probably locked. Every tree passed by like arms slipping their way in to slow her down. And the moon followed and watched her every move.

But there.

Up ahead, she distantly saw a dim flash of light flicking through a window. "Hm... someone must still be awake," she thought to herself. She looked back just this once, to see the guard now slowing down and facing towards the floor, trying to gain back his energy. Wine left him powerless. Sable quickly scrambled around, hiding in a bush nearby the small house's wall, hoping she had lost the guard for good.

[Thyclaine]

Silently tapping a pondering finger on his lips for a moment, Sam shrugged and slowly stood. Walking over to a nearby table, he rummaged through the countless papers to remind himself of what was there as much as the former king. It was typical stuff, most of the papers had been burned or trashed from the countless guard raids on his former workshop, but from what he could tell from the remnants, they weren't too important anyway. Any info at ALL, no matter how trivial, was very important to him. Most of it was a waste of time, but it was something he simply couldn't stop. To find out what had happened was his whole reason to continue fighting for life, and if he lost it, he would end up like the rest of the bodies that the guards dragged out of their homes at night while the rest of the population had the wool cast over their eyes. Picking up a single paper, he handed it to him and sat back down.

"This is about it from that stack. A list of possible sympathizers and informants, might help a little. Most of this mess barely helped me, let alone you."

The young man examined the crumpled piece of paper for a moment, and looked up to him.

"Why are some of these crossed out?"

Sam sighed, and nodded his head towards the dead guard sprawled out on the workshop floor.

"They killed them."

The former king's face stayed still, a slight sneer of disgust forming as the words left his mouth. Sam nodded, and spoke again, tapping a finger on his knee rapidly.

"Yes, seems like I wasn't the only one trying to track these people down. I'm sorry. I'm sure you knew a few of those people quite well..."

Before giving him a chance to answer, Sam stood and looked around. Obviously panicked, he sighed and picked up his bag, slinging it around his shoulder and nodding.

"Now, listen. If you want my help, I'll go along. But if you don't, we both need to get out of here. The rest of the guards should be noticing he hasn't returned from his patrol yet, and this is the first place they'll come. I'd love to talk with ya and give you as much information as I can, but we can't very well do that when we're hanging from the gallows."

[Smithy]

Keeping the shadows until the mysterious man entered the room she slipped to the window sil to listen in. She could only hear snippits of conversation but it lead her to believe it was about the dead king, Sheffer. Or pronounced dead she remembered the man before the king had died, perfect health. Somehow she didn't believe he had just died, no in such short a time he was to be king. The different snippets exited her but when she heard footsteps she vanished back around the corner.

Peering out around the corner she saw a small woman hide in the bushed. The way she walked, crouched and hid told her she wasn't a theif or someone from the usuall night walking groups. Grinning she scaled a pipe and came upon the roof crawling silently until she was directly above this woman. Moving behind her she scanned for guards and dropped with a quiet thud behind her. Ginning again she extended a hand to place on the woman's shoulder, waiting for a reaction.

When their eyes meet she tilted her head let her smile soften sweetly and turned her silken voice into tune. "Miss? Do you need any help? It's not smart to be out this late." She said guesturing with her hand to the dark sky hoping to quickly avert her gaze in order for her to scan over pockets for lumps, possibly valubles. Her face was an image of an innocent night-walking girl but her mind was on more guilty deeds.

[Dark Hero]

Sable sat in the bush for a good one or two, careful not to stir any noise. Her heart still beating, she more over hoped the guard had not followed her around the small house. Not only would she be caught, but it would cause any disruption and suspicion to whomever was in the house. She gulped, peeking her head out for a second only to spot a shadow near the corner. She dived back into the bush, growing nervous. Her limbs were shaking slightly, and she struggled to keep them in control.

A few seconds passed and she heard a thud nearby her bush. Gulping again, she squinted her eyes tightly. Moonlight hit her face and she opened them to find a young girl looking back at her. She immediately scooted back towards the house wall until her arm was grabbed. She stayed calm, listening to her words.

"Miss? Do you need any help? It's not smart to be out this late."

The girl didn't appear to be looking for trouble, but Sable could not be certain. This face could be deceiving for all she knew at a nightly time like this. She watched the girl scan her over, and jerked her arm out of her hand.

She remained calm, despite a stream of anxiety and intimidation rushing through her heart. In response to her question, she answered, "No, thank you. I suppose I could ask the same about you..."

[Smithy]

Curiosity struck her for a moment and she wondered why the woman was out at this time of night obviously not familiar with the night. Did she not know of the guards around this city and the truth in the grusome tales.

Most people were hiding in their houses with doors locked at night, in fear. It was rare she'd ever theive during the night because of it. Now that she thought there were many people out tonight than there usually have been in a long time.

Not losing composure as the woman jerked her arm away she slipped her hand back to her side and watched her as she spoke. Smiling she nodded once, chuckled. "Well, my saftey seems to be more assured than your own... I've never been caught out at night and seeing as you're hiding behind a bush near the closest light... I'm going to guess you've come close to a guard, yes?" She said holding her breath a moment hoping her spare of the moment observation served to be true, while also veering the conversation back onto her rather than making up tales about why she was out here at such late a night.

[Dark Hero]

Sable looked at her for a brief moment and took a breath to calm her nerves down. Other than being scared, she was somewhat angry for whatever reason she expected moreover than this situation. She expected to be found by whomever was in the house, but then again, could that girl have been in the house? She wouldn't know, but a faint pair of voices could still be heard from the window though very incomprehensible to overhear the conversation. However, her focus went back to the girl.

She didn't know her, but she looked like it was rather too late for her to be out herself... But listening to her words, Sable could see that she didn't want a repetition of words. Feeling a bit irritated, she moved slightly to one side of the bush to get comfortable, as the twigs and grass were giving off a sense of nuisance.

Of course, the question would come with a definite and truthful answer from her. Sighing, she replied, "Yes."

[Sheff]

Sheffer looked to the man, thinking it through. He had someone here who gone the extra length to find out the truth, risking his life in order to prove the new king false. Constantly being chased by guards, knights, and any other servants of Malus for three long years, becoming an outcast of the city, his whole life shattered due to his determination. Now he was one of the most-wanted men in the kingdom, just trying to figure out what was the truth and what was the lie.

And he respected that.

But if he allowed the lutenist to join him, how could he contribute? His profession was to create musical instruments, not to sneak about the city, fighting off trained swordsman if necessary. Yet he had survived for all these years, and still managed to gather plenty of evidence of Malus' false claims. The man had different skills then just craftsmanship, and they could come in handy.

"Very well," began Sheffer. "You may come with me."

Sam nodded, Sheffer not capable of telling if he was pleased.

As he rose the hood of his cloak, preparing to leave, Sheffer continued speaking.

"Do you know of any suitable hideaways around the city? I wish not to rest in an alleyway tonight..."

[Smithy]

She smiled, hiding the relief beneath it and glanced towards the window to ensure all was still clear. No shadows had moved to the window as of yet and she took the liberty to crouch out of view if they did. She kept her tone low but clear.

"So miss..." She paused realized she didn't know the name of this woman she was still summing up to be victim to her theft or not. "What brings you to the dark dangerous streets tonight?" She said watching the woman's features intently for any sign of change. True to the eye the woman was just a meer untrained lady caught out at night, but she had learnt to never trust her first impressions.

She had learnt to be patient over her years. She'd seen to many a theif caught, convicted and condemed because they had acted so quickly upon their victims without first being positive of their abilities. Alot of those times it had been the shorter, or weaker in appearance that had lead to their downfall.

[ Very sorry but I won't be on for about five days due to work. -_- Feel free to do a slight god-mod and say that my character suddenly fled to the rooftops if necessary. Work has been cancelled due to rain =) ]