Assassin's Pledge: War of Attrition (Casting Call)

[yorvik]

Clover thought this over for moment. She was indeed right about the royals. But anyone who lived on the Capitol already knew that. It had become so bas that the king himself couldn't take a shit with out approval from the senate.

"I suppose you are right. Defenses mean very little to assassins. But how do you plan to get us across the border is a very good question"

 

[Kyero]

Taira smiled at his question and glanced over her shoulder.

"Actually, getting over the border is going to be the easy part. The hard part comes when we get inside the Capitol City Triveila. I'll be looking for a very specific individual whom I will identify sometime soon after we arrive, and getting to her and eliminating her is going to be mildly challenging. However, I am confident that I will be able to finish my mission quickly and efficiently without too many problems."

She took a second to ponder the consequences of not telling them about her real objective outside of eliminating this particular assignment given to her by her mentor. Should she just tell them or should she keep it to herself until they get there? She honestly didn't know, but judging by the fact that she still worked with her mentor despite the fact that he almost never told her about his specific agenda had to count for something... right?

 

[DormantEvil]

Estelle continued on behind Clover and Taira, content to follow. After they had travelled for a while, she started to feel tired, but she kept it to herself. She had set her sights on not slowing down, and as if by some subconscious prodding, she stepped up her pace just enough to decrease the gap that had started to widen up. Up ahead she could barely hear the conversation, and she had no information to add to what they were currently speaking over.

Suddenly she heard something crack in the forest behind them and off to one side.

Ignoring the conversation, she concentrated on the forest, trying to hear if it was just some deer or boar rummaging about. But nothing moved in the trees, so she continued on again. Perhaps it was just a bird.

It was after a while longer that she came up to within speaking distance.

"Do you want me to find some game for tonight, if it happens to be close by? I can follow your tracks as long as you stay on this heading."

 

[Kyero]

Taira looked back over her shoulder for a moment when Elle spoke about game, but quickly returned her gaze forward to watch her path ahead.

"I have no need for that now Elle, but if you wish to hunt for yourself you may do so."

Taira had eaten plenty during the day and was used to going for up to three days without food without it causing much difficulty for her, though the drop in energy thanks to low nourishment was noticeable over the course of those days.

Taking a moment to think more on Elle's sudden offer she took another glance over her shoulder as she looked her up and down, eyes settling on her face for a few seconds before looking back ahead once more. After a few more paces she came to a stop, turning and looking back at Elle as she walked towards her.

"If I may ask Elle, where did that request come from?" She asked, rather intent on a satisfactory answer.

 

[LeoHawk35]

Tenebris

He continued to follow the tracks silently. They didn't seem to be making any effort to conceal them or throw off someone chasing them, which means they didn't know they were being followed. This was good. Though his target seemed to be more unaware than he expected. He shrugged mentally and continued along at a careful jog, faster than a walk but still slow enough that he could be silent.

He slowed and stopped, dropping to a knee. The tracks were getting fresher. He was gaining on them.

He rose to his feet, loosening his blade in his scabbard and tightening his gauntlets before taking off at another light jog. His only concern was that the Red-Eyed Demon was using the others as bait to lure him in, but he had no evidence of that and there weren't any signs that he was being followed. Aside from that, the demon had taken off in a completely different direction than they were going, which meant he was at least three hours pace behind him. He had some time regardless, even if the demon did turn back around.

He turned his pace off into the forest, noticing the tracks were less than five minutes old. One set of prints fell behind the others. Lighter. One of the women, though probably not his target. Picking them off one at a time would be easier than taking all three at the same time, however, so he would take what he could get. And these companions of hers were slowing her down. He crept along the treeline, staying out of sight until coming closer to the group. He stopped, waiting, a hand resting on the hilt of his blade.

 

[DormantEvil]

Having accepted Taira's thoughts on hunting for game, Elle had continued on again. It wasn't until the other woman stopped, and walked back to her that she stopped jogging.

Where did it come from?

Without thinking much about her answer, because she didn't really have to, she answered truthfully.

"I only wanted to provide food, but I was also slightly curious as to what game would be around at this time of day."

Looking into the forest, she held her hands up as if indicating something the size of a hare.

"I heard something rustling around a while back, I guess I thought it might prove a good meal."

Smiling, she shrugged her shoulders. "Finding food is one of my jobs, and I don't want to be a burden by not pulling my weight."

 

[Kyero]

Taira thought about her answer for a moment before turning back around.

"At this time of night, not much stirs in these forests. If you heard a sound of anything that was of substantial size, likely it was either a person or an animal dashing for the cover of its den. The best time to hunt in these forests is at dawn when the sun first peeks over the horizon."

As she spoke she began jogging again. With only a few hours of night left she wanted to get as far away from this town as possible. It wasn't that she didn't like it there, but since that was her last known location Te'i Sai's Assassins would be returning there before long to pick up her trail.

"... Trail..." She said quietly to herself for a moment as she glanced over her shoulder.

They were leaving a nice trail behind them of very light footprints. Taira's were almost impossible to see moving at her pace but she was sure that if she slowed down she'd be able to spot them without too much difficulty.

How could I have forgotten about this? She thought to herself.

She slowed her pace and began to pick her path more carefully, walking on boulders and hopping from spot to spot with no real rhythm, rhyme or reason. Before long she jumped up into the trees and began hunting for the largest branches that wouldn't leave any signs of breakage or disturbance as she continued moving along, hoping that the others picked up on her idea and were following suit.

 

[yorvik]

Clover saw what Taira was doing and looked back at his own footsteps in the snow.

idiot! of course im not used to people tracking me or careing...youve become complacent in the city..

Clover looked back at Elle

shes not used to this pace....

"hey girly...you look tired. want me to carry some of your stuff for you?"

sometimes im too fucking nice for my own good....but then my sisters would be proud of me im sure. course father would call it a weakness...fucking old man!

 

[Kyero]

(There's no snow right now, it's not winter. We're moving through a dry forest right now in late summer and going into fall very soon)

Taira looked over her shoulder as she came to a halt in the branches, checking her two companions and hearing them converse.

Clover offered to carry Elle's things, but Taira made a face as she turned her head forward and continued on her way. She didn't particularly dislike it when guys offered to do such things, but she didn't exactly like it either. Chivalry was alright, but when it came to simple things like this it was useless and it irritated her. However, she chose to remain silent as she continued jumping from tree to tree and avoiding small branches so as to not leave any sign of her presence.

Keep moving Taira... Don't bother looking back anymore.

Taira had been taught that holding back for the sake of others was a weakness if it was utilized too much. While it was alright to do so every so often, making it a constant was a bad habit to get into and would only serve to slow her down. She didn't want to seem cruel to her companions, but sometimes it was best to simply go her way and let them keep up on their own. Her mentor was always so cryptic and mysterious when she was with him and she was confused more often than not, but he had always said that what he was doing would make sense someday.

Right now, it didn't and she was mentally kicking herself for just letting her companions stumble along behind her.

 

[DormantEvil]

Holding up her hand, she shook her head softly at Clovers offer. Her pack was the same weight it always was, and although she was finding the pace faster than normal, she was far from complaining about it, or from admitting it out loud. If she was left behind, so be it, but that wouldn't be because she couldn't carry her own things.

"It's a nice offer, but I have to do this myself. Thank you though."

"Oh, and its Elle for short...not girly," she stated with a sweet yet serious smile.

Hopping from rock to rock, she occasionally looked back behind her to see if they had been leaving any sign. By the looks of it, and she was used to tracking game, someone who wasn't good at tracking may not even notice the small things. Occasionally a little moss might be missing, or a rock might be pushed into the ground more than the others, but there were no footprints after they consciously made an effort to hide them.

Of course Taira was leaving no footprints, as she had taken to the tree branches.

"Don't let me slow you down, if I catch up I will, if not, I'll consider my help more a burden and accept my uselessness under the current conditions," she called out to Taira.

"And although I owe you my life, I know how dangerous having a tag along who is useless could be."

Stopping in her tracks, she crouched down and examined some diggings in the ground. She had suspected small game, and had been correct. Although, by the feel of the dirt, and the lack of moisture, the diggings were old. Standing up again, she jogged on.

 

[yorvik]

Clover shrugged and followed their lead moving from rock to rock.

"thought i would offer Elle. how much further do we plan to travel. sorry but i was marching all yesterday and starting to lose some stamina. i would be near useless if a fight broke out right now. "

 

[Kyero]

Taira cast a glance at him over her shoulder, her facial expression making the message loud and clear: Then why did you bother coming along?

She looked forward again without ever saying a word for a few minutes, but soon decided to humor his question.

"We'll be traveling like this for a couple days. If you don't have the stamina to keep pace, then you'd best find a place to rest and get your strength back before you begin the trek back home. What awaits us further ahead is not a street fight, and it's not something that most people in their right mind would volunteer for."

She continued on her path through the trees and eventually the forest opened into a vast plain ahead in which they could see for miles in any direction. She spotted a dirt pathway and deliberately ran along the edge of it, keeping her feet on harder soil and away from the loose dirt that covered the path.

 

[LeoHawk35]

Tenebris

The man followed along silently, footfalls unheard running along the forest floor. There was a large clearing ahead, and he wouldn't be able to trail them without raising suspicion. He needed to start picking them off sooner was than later. He might not get a chance like this again. He padded along, keeping pace with them easily despite his long time of running. Though it seemed they were either aware of his tracking them, or just now realizing they were leaving a trail. Either way, he kept as close to them as possible without revealing himself.

The one in the far back, the small girl, stopped and knealt down. He took his chance, darting out of the brush without breaking stride, spinning and taking her along with him off the path, locking her arms behind her back and covering her mouth. She was gone in the blink of an eye. He carried her along a decent distance off the path. He didn't need to follow the other two anymore. They wouldn't be able to escape his gaze at the clearing. He set her against a tree trunk after slipping a pair of cuffs on her wrists, keeping her hands well out of reach of the rapier at her side.

He knealt down in front of her, his hood masking his face and making him seem like he was purely made of shadow. No scream would be heard at this point, and the target wouldn't be coming back for one straggler.

"Who are you, and where were you going?" he asked simply.

He had time to satisfy his curiosity. The other two wouldn't be able to outrun him on foot, not as tired as they were. The man seemed to be quite out of breath already. The Assassin might have been able to take the three of them right then and there, but it was best not to chance it. He didn't know all the information he needed yet.

 

[DormantEvil]

Elle almost let out a brief scream when something grabbed her, but the hand that closed over her mouth prevented even the smallest of ones. The assailant carried her with a strength that showed he was unhindered by her light frame. And although she struggled in his grip she found herself doing more damage to her own body, than to his grip. And when she kicked out at him, the pressure on her arms increased to a painful level and she was quelled. Handcuffed and pressed against a tree trunk, Elle was furious, and it showed in her eyes.

He was cloaked in black and his outline seemed distorted with the low light of the forest. Had he managed to find the darkest area in the region? And unless he was dressed to imitate one, he looked like a Te'i Sai Assassin, she knew their garb anywhere.

"How dare you!" she spat, hissing at the man. "You filthy vile disgusting excuse for a man!"

Kicking out at him, she knew that it was very unlikely to hit. He was on alert, and her upper body was unable to lend any strength to her attack. But attack she did anyway. Her kick aimed for his groin, the softest part of his exposed front, and more likely to temporarily cause him distress.

But Elle was back in chains, hanging from the roof of the Te'i Sai basement, and she wasn't having any of it.

 

[LeoHawk35]

Tenebris

The man tilted his head as the struggled. Surely she knew there wasn't a way out of this? He watched for a few moments, listening to her accusation. When she kicked out at him, he almost lazily grabbed and planted her foot back on the ground, not even close to gently.

"I will only ask one more time," he started, drawing a blade and swiftly planting it in the ground next to her foot. "Who are you, and where were you going?"

His voice was cold and calm and his movements showed much the same. If she didn't tell him what he needed to know, he'd move on to the other two. If he wasn't mistaken, he could hear a caravan passing by just off in the distance. Not close enough to hear her screams, however. He could sneak into that caravan to avoid the other two's eyes, or perhaps use it to mask his own travelling.

He kept his gaze on her, not moving and barely breathing to the point that he looked like a statue.

 

[DormantEvil]

Her efforts had been in vain, as she had suspected, and her mind began to think over her options. They were few and far between. She could scream, but by the time someone (if anyone) heard her, she would be bleeding out or already dead. She could fight, but he would simply restrain her better, or kill her outright before she managed to land even a weak hit. Or, considering she knew little about where Taira and Clover were going, she could tell him what he wanted to know. What little she knew, at least.

Bringing her expression into one of contained anger, she glared at him. If only she could use that knife....

"I don't know where, but it was across the border. I'm just following because she saved my life. If you need a name, it's Estelle."

Looking to the side, she felt ashamed at saying anything. But in the back of her mind she knew he would have probably guessed considering Taira hadn't changed their heading for quite some time. Even if she had been covering her tracks. And her name, well, it hadn't protected her in the past, so what good was it.