|
Post by nightingale on Feb 28, 2014 16:22:09 GMT -5
Kam was lying in his little hut when he heard three vicious raps on his door. Cautious as ever, he rose slowly from his bed, careful not to rustle the covers. Quickly but quitely he walked towards the door and grabbed one of his scimitars he had hanging on the wall. He threw open the door, and quickly sidestepped in anticipation of an attack. As usual, there was none but it was good for him to stay on his toes. "Master Lee?" A timid message bearer said with a quavering voice. "I have a contract from an anonymous client. He has made payment in advance." The courier boy said as he took out a peice of parchment and a small purse of money. Kam eyed the boy in suspicion, he normally didn't take prepayed contracts, this usually meant conditions needed to be met if he wanted more money. And he always wanted more money. However, something about the parchment looked familiar, perhaps personal. He qickly grabbed the fine paper and the money and sent the boy away. He slammed his door shut, making sure to hang up his scimitar in it's place next to the door. He slowly stepped to his table, where he could watch the outside from his single window. He saw the boy run for a lite, stop and hide behind a tree. What is this tom-foolery. He thought to himself. Quickly he went to his kitchen and poured a cup of tea. He liked it black with mint leaves floating on top and a spoon of honey for sweetness. He sat himself back down and sighed to see the boy was behind the tree still. The fool doesn't think i can see him... it's a shame he has to die a predetermined death. He sipped his tea as he opened up the letter. He wondered how this anonymous man knew he was an assassin. He had only ever recieved contracts from the Genosevans and from men he had met in the underground criminal world. Still, a twist was nice for once. He read the letter and laughed a cynnical laugh. He glanced back at the boy and smiled, knowing why the boy was stopping. Either way kid, you're dead aren't you? Kam got up and left the letter open on the table. He went into his single room and poured his money into an iron lockbox. He then grabbed the lockbox by both handles and left it on the front steps. He donned his assassin garb, making sure that nothing was torn, and headed towards his weapon rack. " Today happens to be a good day." He voiced out loud. "For not always is it that i get payed to do nothing". He grabbed his daggers and sheathed them in all their secret spots just in case. He also donned his scimitars, making sure that he had no interference. Finally, he put his white hair up in a high ponytail and walked out the door. Ducking in time to see an arrow go by his face. This was all part of the pan of course. The boy thought he was being apart of a murder, well technically he was... his own. The band of thieves had not known Kam was an assassin, nor did he plan on letting them. He jad read the contract and instantly understood. He wasn't being hired, he was being told not to say anything. This lad had broken an oath of thieves and now he was being punished. Of course, Kam knew he had to mke it look like the arrow hit him, so the boy's guard cold go down a little. He collapsed to the ground and watched as the boy came to retrieve Kam's lockbox. As soon as he touched it, Kam sprang up and kicked him backwards into a flying arrow. Whiz-Thump. Went the arrow as it slammed into the boy's back. He cried out in pain and toppled over. To the thieves, Kam looked as if he was a simple man waking up to a strange request. To Kam, the thief was a murderer and a thief so Kam had the edge. Kam walked towards the man, matching each step the man had taken. Finally they where arm's length away. " Thank you Master Lee, you have aided in the help of capturing a dangerous man." The thief said, pure satisfaction in his voice as he spit out the last 11 words sarcastically. Kam noticed the man was playing with the hilt of his saber. "I'll save you the trouble master theif. You have gotten what you want and now you want your money back, you plan on killing me with your sword. If i move you will be a coward and have one of your arches int eh trees there, there and there.." Kam said as he pointed to several different trees, "..shoot me with arrows. However, i know this because i know your kind, i am your kind. We kill, we steal, we enjoy this life. However i am also different from your kind. I'm smart enough to check my surroundings." Kam said this with a wink. The thief was clearly confused by what Kam had just said. The Cam let out a high shrill whistle. When he did this, three hawks that had been circling overhead for the whole encounter divebombed from over head, clawing at the archers in the trees. This distraction gave Kam enough time to draw his scimitars and stab the thief in front of him with both of them, causing an instant death. His birds had already knocked the archers from the trees and he knew they where dead or paralyzed from the fall. He allowed them to rest and slowly drew out his swords, carefully so as to not get excess blood on them. The serated blade had left a few extra internal wounds, but he did not plan on gutting the man. He cleaned his sword off on the man's clothes and re sheathed them. He called his birds to him, he knew it was a good idea to learn falconing as a child in Nihon-Ja. However, he knew they where not his and he set them free. He now looked around and realized he had a mess to get rid of. Luckily, he was near a small stream that ran deep and ran far, so he dumped the bodies within. He smirked and walked back in, realizing he now was a target of a band of thieves. What he had not reaized was tat someone, a good shooter from somewhere else, had shot an arrow into his open door with a note on it, a note that told him of his next contract.
|
|
|
Post by nightingale on Mar 3, 2014 18:02:32 GMT -5
Kam walked into his cabin, relieved by the fact that he got out of the tangle unscathed. Instantly, his eyes trained to notice anything out of the ordinary, he noticed the arrow on the table. At first, he disregarded it as a missed shot by an assailant. However, as he removed it he saw the letter attached to it. Master Lee, i have seen what you can do. I know who you are and i have been closely watching you. I know that this cabin is not your main cabin, so meet me at your main one in three days time at the hour you receive this. Don't worry about me showing up, i am watching you read this now even if you cannot see me i am amongst you. You and i are not so different. I steal and you steal. however we steal different things. You steal life, i steal lives. The difference is, i become who i kill. We can run a mission together, a very profitable mission. A small assassination really. Against a tax collector of Araluen. Not much will happen, we will raid a caravan and kill the very wealthy and aristocratic tax collector. I will become him and we will make our merry way. If i see you at your cabin in three days, i will assume you accept. Kam slowly lowered the letter and glanced outside his single window. Despite not being able to see anyone, he had a feeling he was being watched. He wondered what and who this man was, so he decided he would perform his task, and then kill the man for safe measure. Usually he did not assassinate his clients, but he had a feeling if he was not the executioner he would become the executed. *** Finally three days had passed an Kam just arrived at his main cabin. Technically, he wasn't supposed to have it. With all the money he had made from assassinations, heists and caravan hijackings, Kam made more than enough for him to rebuild a ruined castle. What he had done was kept it secret enough so no one could tax him, and he kept it off the beaten path. Once he found a small sized castle he had set this up as his headquarters. As you walk into the double doors guarded by a portcullis you are guided down a hall lined with red carpet and purple tabards draping from the walls. Every few yards the hall broke off into separate rooms shut off by doors. At the end their was a winding staircase that led either up to the second level or down to the basement level. Kam noticed a door in the hall was slightly open so he went in to investigate who could be inside his study. He walked in and sitting behind his desk in his chair was a built yet slim man. This man eyed Kam and then he spoke. "You are here so you are interested. Come child, learn how to play the game. The caravan will be traveling on the road. I, from the treetops, will pick off the guards. You will do your thing and kill whoever remains." He said, accent-less and clear. "No. I have a better idea. I do my thing, kill everyone, keep the money and you get to walk away from this place alive. Thanks for telling me about the gig." Kam said this, happy to know he could make plenty of money without having to watch his back for an arrow. "Your empty threats do not bother me. I know that you know that you cannot kill 50 men by yourself, no matter what skills you have." "50 men? Wow thats a big caravan" Kam said, less confident now. "Fine, you may help me, but i get to keep all the gold." "That is a deal i am willing to make, for my benefits will be much more... lucrative." The man said with a sly smile. The night was almost upon them and Kam was getting ready. He went down to his basement and unlocked the door. Then he walked over to the end of the basement hall where a round door showed him here the vault was. He did the complicated code and unlocked the door, entering to see all the money, notes, gold, jewels and other goods he had piled from the years. He dumped his iron lockbox in and locked the door, carefully sealing it. He then walked into a room adjacent to the vault. In this room he had various outfits, each a slight variation of his preferred outfit. Seeing as he would not be alone, he decided he would go as more of a mysterious figure than to be immediately known as an assassin. Luckily, he was perfectly ready for a heist like this. He decided to donn his normal garb, however for his friend he had a plan. A long time ago, Kam had a brief yet unsuccessful run in with a ranger. Kam decided if he needed to, he could impersonate a king's ranger. So he had made an outfit to match their own. He put this at the base of the stairs and went into his weapons room, lingering on what he should use. He saw the advantages of using a bow for shooting down some guards. However, his accomplice seemed pretty good at archery so he figured he would leave that to him. Of course, brought his beloved scimitars and inside the hollow hilt of one of them he loaded his trident dagger. In his boot sheathes he put a stiletto in one boot and his sword-breaker in the other. On his belt he loaded five throwing knives for in case he had to use them. Finally, he wrapped his Kusari-Gama around his waist and got ready to depart. "Here put these on, might as well put on a show." Kam said gruffly to his partner. The partner looked happily at the imitated garb and giddily donned it.
*** It was time for the long awaited heist and Kam and Sal, (the name of his partner he had just figured out), where positioned on the road in accordance to their plan. As the caravan came around the bend Kam and Sal engaged in a vicious sword fight. The caravan guards instantly encircled them, recognizing immediately Sal as a ranger. They came to pry Kam away and then out of the trees an arrow came and struck down a guard. Moments later, two more arrows followed in rapid succession, killing two more guards. The guards looked around frantically, and they tried to get the caravan to run away, however the horses pulling it where already killed. Kam finally ended the charade by killing the farmer he had disguised as Sal who was disguised as a ranger. Sal himself was hiding in the trees raining down arrows as rain in a thunderstorm. Kam actively engaged the guards, easily slicing through their defenses with his scimitars. He saw a man running down the road and decided to give chase. He signaled to Sal to clean up the rest of the guards as he ran after the fleeing tax collector. Kam finally caught up to the man and tackled him to the ground. There he lay, under Kam's disposal and Kam drew the stiletto from his boot. He traced the man's heart with it and whispered to him. "Say goodbye." As he raised the stiletto above his head, Kam saw the tax collector raise a smug eyebrow. "Goodbye." He said back. A that moment Kam knew he was in danger. He rolled out of the way just in time for an arrow to pierce the tax collector... where he had been standing. Kam whirled around, sensing danger from another arrow and quickly ducked. An arrow whizzed above his head and buried itself into a tree. "You are quit the assassin you know that?" Sal said from out of the shadows. "You didn't even check to make sure i wasn't part of the royal guard. You are slipping Master Lee." Sal continued to launch a torrent of arrows. Kam swore under his breath. Then he slowly remembered is training. The royal guard was a tough one, he assumed he would be hunted down for this. However, he knew he had to finish the job. Kam saw an arrow coming right at him, in slow motion. He turned in time for it to pin only his cape to the tree behind him. Kam then devised an idea. He allowed three more shots to be fired at him, each in the area of his head. Then Kam climbed up the arrows, into the tree and disappeared from Sal's view. Kam tracked Sal through the shadows as he slowly drifted from tree to tree. Kam realized the whole delegation of armed guards had only been maimed by arrows, but not badly injured. They where starting to stir and pick up their weapons. Only the ones Kam had killed where actually dead. Kam swore again for being so easily duped. Then he saw Sal step into the open and he saw his opportunity. He jumped out of the tree, crushing the man beneath him. He felt the ribs break and smiled satisfactorily. Then he realized it was him versus a group of armed men and a silld archer. Kam did what he was trained to do, he killed. In a blur of slashing, hacking, throwing and swiping he had managed to kill off all of the armed delegation, now he had just one man left. "I am surprised you are still alive, you should be dead by now." Sal said. "None the less that shall change soon." Sal drew out a sword and twirled it around expertly. Kam, tired of this man decided he would fight with one weapon only. He drew his sword breaker and beckoned for Sal to come forward. Sal, knowing of sword breakers, ignored the taunt. "Let's talk this out. Assume you get out of this alive. You get your money and then what? You settle down? You stop assassinating? No, there is no way thats happening you are a slave to greed. Once you get your money you will store it away and continue your assinations. All the while, word will get to a ranger or town watch or knights and they will settle this personally. Is it really worth it? Let me take you in now and you won't even have to feel the pain of losing to me in a sword fight." Sal said rather pompously. He obviously felt that he would win in this situation, despite seeing his whole brigand of men get assassinated. "Or.." Kam said, "We assume you die and i get off with the money scott free and happy. Why? Because you think you are so smart, however you don't realize i have killed all your men, i have killed your plot and now i will kill you. You see it is so simple for me because all i have to do is-" As he was speaking, Kam flung his swordbreaker at Sal who was no more than 5 yards away. Sal, distracted by the conversation, did not have the time to react and was impaled. "-that because you are not as clever as you think." Kam said as he strode over to Sal, brushing a piece of white hair that escaped his ponytail from his face. "I am so happy that i can take your life from you with my scimitars." Kam said as he crossed Sal's neck inside the two blades. In one swift motion Kam had severed the head from the body and he stalked over to the caravan. Like before, these well trained horses had faked an injury. Kam, despite being afraid of the horses, drove the caravan back to his castle where he unloaded all the money into his vault. All of this money added up to alot of money. He laughed heartily, the taxes of the king where his to keep.
|
|
|
Post by nightingale on Mar 5, 2014 22:16:45 GMT -5
Kam awoke to a knife at his throat, the cold of the blade sending chills to his arms. He let on no indication he was awake, he never missed a beat. His breathing was regulated, his body lay stiff and he made sure not to make any unnecessary noises. He peered through the slit of his eye. From what he could count in his dark room, there where at least 3 men inside. Kam realized he had to come up with a plan before he died. He allowed time for his body to wake, and for his senses to heighten. Then, almost as if by instinct he rolled off the side of the bed and when he hit the floor he rolled underneath the bed. As far as his assailants knew, he was till on the side of the bed. He slowly crept to their side as they moved to surround him. As they got to where he should have been lying, they started talking angrily. "Where in the blazes did he go!" the man with the knife muttered. "If we don't find him, Ibn Abar will roast us alive... or worse." At this all the men increased their search efforts. Kam by then had reached the other side of the bed and was just getting up. "Looking for me?" He said with a taunting smile. He knew he had the advantage, this was his home, he knew all the traps he had created. All three of the men gave chase at full speed. Due to his superior stamina and speed, he was able to lead them on a good run before they realized they had gotten lost inside the small castle. One man whistled and Kam heard the front door break open with a shudder. Kam looked from his overlook and saw a small army of 10 men rushing inside all armed with crude weapons. Kam ran up the stairs to his third and final floor. Luckily for him, he had created an escape. Although he did not like the idea of people being inside his house. Kam rounded the corner, he saw the door leading to his secret stairwell in sight when all of a sudden a tall figure emerged from it. "Kam Lee, a pleasure to meet you. We being a rather unfortunate group of men have come to ask you for some gold... in abundance." The man said dryly. His thick Arridi accent rolled off of his tongue like poison. He was tall, perhaps 6 feet 7 inches. He had a slender yet long and menacing face with defined cheekbones and a set jaw. His goatee framed his mouth rather nicely. His eyes where green like a snakes and he wore a tall turban made of black and red silk. In the middle was a long black feather. He wore robes that went down to his feet to match his turban and black satin slippers on his feet. I one hand he carried an apple, while in the other he carried a golden staff with a snakehead figurine at top. The snakehead had ruby eyes that seemed to penetrate into Kam. Kam turned in time to see all 13 men advancing on him. Kam realized running anymore was futile as was fighting. He slunk into admission, allowing himself to be chained and gagged. The men dragged him outside by his feet. Kam grimaced when he was dragged over a sharp stone, but no one noticed. Finally, once they had reached the outside, Kam was propped up against a castle wall. The tall man, who Kam assumed to be Ibn Abar, strode over and placed the apple on Kam's head. "Whomever can knock this apple off of this filth's head can choose how we kill him. You have two choices, a bow from 30 meters or a throwing knife from 45 meters... choose wisely. Also, whomever completes this task gets to keep two shares of the loot rather than one." The last statement got the bandits excited and they all lined up, some choosing the knife, other's choosing the arrow. "Who will go first?"
|
|
|
Post by nightingale on Mar 6, 2014 21:05:03 GMT -5
(OOC: Switch to Ranger Cross).
It had been seven years since Cross Swiftstriker was apprenticed to Elliot. In that course, Cross had grown to become a ranger. Despite his lousy climbing skills, he had managed to overcome his fear of heights. Also, he had trained very throughly to become skilled in silent movement and moving unseen. As his training progressed, so did his skills. He could now hit the target accurately from over a good distance with his longbow. Also, he had managed to create an atlas of every animal in Araluen that he knew of, so tracking could become much easier. Of course, he still had a tough time with following winding tracks with all the breaks and such, but he was getting better. He was also virtually impossible to be tracked due to a trick his mentor had taught him. He should always take opportunities to eave the ground whenever he could, so breaks occur in the track. Also, if given the chance, backtrack and sweep your tracks. After 4 1/2 years of training, Cross had gotten his silver oakleaf. As the Corps still needed a place to put him, Cross was a wandering ranger, always helping when possible. This is the reason he seemed to drop from the lives of many, for Cross never stayed in one fief longer than a week before moving on. At the current time, Cross had just ridden Rancor into Araluen fief. Riding through the small villages and scattered farms throughout he had gotten tidbits of information. Apparently, there was a band of thieves at large, and they had just raided a tax caravan. Cross wanted to investigate this immediately. He had been searching the farms and country side for information and he had gotten a few leads, but not many. Cross was frustrated and he needed to get to an inn quickly. Cross was cutting through the fief, to get to the castle town quicker. He needed an inn, and he didn't want to burden a poor farm family. As he was riding, he came upon a stream. To him, the stream seemed to flow irregularly. Observant as always, Cross quickly dismounted and peered into the water. His eyes widened as he saw the bodies of a boy and four men at the bottom. Cross mounted rancor and urged his horse to leap across the stream. Cross rode into a clearing where a small wooden cabin was located. He observe the ground and noticed the dried up blood. Cross hushed his horse and strung his bow, nocking an arrow for an early shot. He slowly crept into the house and observed the area, nothing seemed threatening to him accept for an arrow sticking on the table. Pinned under the arrow was a note. Cross read the note but could not make hide nor tail of where the "main location" was. So Cross mounted Rancor and followed a pair of three day old tracks through the woods. Cross took out his map of Araluen fief and realized this place had been charted as woodlands with little to no roads nearby. The only road was a road labelled as tax road. He figured this was where the heist took place. Cross barely noticed it was nightfall until he couldn't see the tracks anymore. He was about to turnback to the cabin and hope someone would come by when he heard a ruckus. Cross told Rancor to keep quite, then he followed the noise under the protection of the shadows. He almost stepped into a clearing when he noticed a group of 14-15 men standing around a fire. One man, dressed rather elaborately was talking in a thick Ariddi accent. Cross saw him place an apple on the head of a gagged man and Cross knew what he must do. He saw men lining up to take a shot at the apple. "Who will go first?" Cross heard the Ariddian ask. As a hand was raised Cross took aim, and fired. The arrow pinned the arrow to wall. It rattled slowly back and forth as Ibn Abar walked over and took the arrow from the wall. "Congratulations to whomever fired this arrow, you choose how this wastrel dies." He said, a slight crack in his voice as he noticed the engraving of an oakleaf on the arrow hide. "WHO IN THE BLAZES FIRED THIS ARROW!" Cross smirked, he knew he had the man scared, now it was his job to take care of these robbers and thieves. "I believe, my group of friends, you are looking for me." Cross said as he shot two more arrows to lessen the thickness of the group. Instantly two men went down with a thud, arrows sticking from their chests. Cross danced in and out of the light, making himself visible for moments, then disappearing again only to fire arrow from a different location. He kept this act up until he had taken out from the 15 men almost two thirds, leaving but 7 left. " Can you please stop with the arrow fire!" Yelled Ibn Abar. He drew his sword and tried to follow the ranger with the tip of his blade. Cross smiled, "Did you say... fire?" He quickly loaded one of his premade fire arrows onto his bow. He then lit it on fire with a spark from his flint. The arrow lept ablaze as he shot it at the man. Ibn Abar realized what was happening as soon as the fire arrow hit his silk robe. He was being burned alive. He decided if he had to go, he would go without pain. So what the Ibn did was he impaled himself and fell to the ground, his robes still burning. Cross quickly dispatched of the other 7 men and walked up to the gagged man. He freed his wrists and feet and stood the man up. "Are you all right? That must have been a terryfing encounter, if there is anything you need please allow me to assist you." Cross didn't wait for a response before adding. "I'm Cross, what's your name?"
|
|
|
Post by nightingale on Mar 7, 2014 21:37:32 GMT -5
(OOC: Switch to Kam) "My name?" Kam said cautiously. He had made a name for himself as an assassin, and he wasn't in the mood to let a ranger know he was an assassin. He went with a more tradition name from his birth place. "My name is Zhang Wei..." Kam thought he recognized this man, but he couldn't determine from where. Rather than killing him on the spot, Kam decided to alow the assistance. "I am fine, thank you for your wonderings. I was actually on my way to visit the nearby town when all of a sudden i was jumped by a gang of thieves. This is their hideout." Kam said, motioning to his own manor. Kam accepted the man's outstretched hand and got up slowly. He realized he had none of his weapons, and was about to step inside and get them when he realized he was Zhang for the time being, not Kam. So Kam started walking towards the village, hoping the ranger would ignore him for the time being.
|
|