Another day on the job

[Jadin]

It was perhaps several hours after midnight, in the dark alleyways between buildings. Abruptly, the darkness was shattered as a door opened, flooding this alley momentarily with light. From this doorway, a man stepped out into the street, pocketing a weighty pouch of gold.

It was some official or another, likely corrupt and on someone's payroll. Unfortunately, he had offended the wrong person. Now he found himself as a target on some other scheming noble's hitlist.

Jadin was covered in a tattered and dirty cloak, sitting in the ground and looking the part of a homeless beggar. The corrupt official ignored him, yet the moment he passed by and showed Jadin his back, Jadin rose from the ground. Covering his mouth with one hand so he could not cry for help, the he stabbed the man in the throat with the dagger he held in his other hand.

After the man stopped struggling and went limp, Jadin allowed his corpse to drop to the ground. Taking the man's right hand, he pulled the signet ring from his finger, pocketing it as proof of his deeds. Throwing his tattered cloak over the body, he turned to leave.

[Shadow]

Shadow watched from atop a nearby roof as an unassuming beggar stabbed an obviously wealthy man, pocketed some kind of ring from the corpse, threw a tattered cloak over the body, and then turned tail and walked away.

Smirking, Shadow saw the large purse that had been left behind, and lithely jumped down to the alleyway, silently sneaking to the body and looting it. A quick search revealed a heavy purse, a small, ornate locket, and a short-sword. One man's trash, another man's treasure, right?

Looking up at the killer, Shadow smirked, and using his cloak, melted into the darkness of the night, stalking the other fellow creature of the night. He was curious as to whom the assassin was working for- what with the destruction of most the cities guilds, if someone had money to pay an assassin, then they knew somebody....

Hand on his throwing knives, Shadow removed himself silently from the shadows behind the building. He wasn't in an attacking mood, but he'd be ready if the need arose.

[Jadin]

Jadin had not been moving for very long before he felt another presence nearby. For all he knew, he might have simply not noticed some beggar lying about in a drunken stupor who had stood to relieve himself on the side of a building. Jadin did not think this was the case, nor would he trust a beggar lying about in his path, as he had just shown how detrimental that could prove.

Initially, Jadin made no indication to reveal that he was on to the pursuer, instead taking his time to try using senses beyond sight to get a fix on the person's location. In particular, he listened intently for any indication of an imminent attack.

Feeling he had a decent fix on the person's location, he abruptly pivoted on the spot, drawing a dagger and whipping it at the stranger in a single fluid motion.

[Shadow]

Shadow smirked as a dagger came flying toward him. He'd expected as much; A good assassin never leaves witnesses. However, It wouldn't be enough to deter this witness. He reached out and caught the knife before it could reach him.

Walking forward, he casually tossed the knife back at its owner. "Don't bother, I'll be able to catch them."

Stopping a few feet away from the Assassin, Shadow continued talking in a low voice. "You must realize that you aren't the only person who has desire for that ring in your pocket."

In reality, Shadow wanted to potentially recruit the man before him. That motive would not be revealed, however, until the perfect opportunity. Even if the situation turned to open combat, Shadow was willing to risk it. After all, he had more things up his sleeve than the average street-wanderer.

The dim light of the alleyway was enough to hide the subtle changes that Shadow's body might undergo if the situation became more dangerous...

[Jadin]

Aha, so his employer hadn't trusted the task to the services of Jadin alone. This man had some skill, which was apparent by the deftness with which he caught the thrown blade, yet Jadin didn't believe there was anything to worry about from a single demonstration such as this.

If he wanted the ring, he was going to have to take it. Jadin had tracked the man down and slain him personally, and no one was going to claim his kill as their own.

He decided against speaking, for allowing others to know his voice might end up betraying him at a later point in time. A good assassin gave as little indication of his everyday self as possible. Even if he had been seen, he would not let himself be heard.

His hands went to the twin sheath at either side of his belt. Drawing forth a pair of scimitars, he watched the man warily, waiting for him to move first.

[Shadow]

Shadow smirked. Dual wielding style, eh? I'll bet he's fast.

The Nightwalker drew a throwing knife, which suddenly became two, held in his right fist, ready to throw. With his other hand, he reached back and drew his short sword from its holster on his back. Flexing his hands, he studied his opponent carefully.

Watching his enemy wearily, Shadow crouched, shifting his grip on the throwing knives. His smirk widened, and he sprung forward, throwing one of the knives, and following it up with two quick slashes from the short sword in his left hand, while shifting his grip on the remaining knife, switching into a position that would allow him to block with it.

I'm not going to kill him... unless he gets too dangerous. After all, it's not like he'd believe me anyway.

[Jadin]

Jadin tensed himself when the man drew his weapons, warily taking a step backward. The more space that was between himself and the man, the more time he had to react to anything he tried. This assassin wanted him, not the other way around, which made him more likely to be the aggressor.

Then the man sprung. With one of his swords, he deflected the thrown dagger mid-flight before the man was upon him. Using his second sword to parry the man's slashes, he searched for an opening to stab at the man, though his primary focus for his second sword was to deflect any more thrown weapons. Jadin fought defensively now, as he gave ground one step at a time, moving toward the exit to this particular alleyway.

[Shadow]

He is fast. All I need to do is mark that ring... and he can go, free. However, I wonder what will happen...

Shadow took full note that the other assassin was moving defensively, and at the opportune moment, would probably head toward the exit of the alleyway. Shadow decided to press the attack anyway. Swirling around, Shadow attempted a kick that if not dodged would hit the other opponent in the back of the leg, taking him down in the process.

As he made the sweeping motion with his leg, Shadow also slashed at his opponent with Chordia, his short sword, from the opposite side.

If the attack hit, the opponent would find himself on his back, with a sword point held at his throat.

If the maneuver failed, Shadow would be open for the briefest of moments, but his cloak obscured exactly where his clothing ended and his body began, so any opportunistic thrust would most likely graze the tightly linked mail.

[Jadin]

Jadin saw the man sweeping out with his leg, along with the secondary strike. True to the idea of fighting defensively, he did not attempt a counter-attack. Instead, he leapt backward, avoiding both kick and slash.

Shadow's maneuver may have left him momentarily open, but an opening in one's defense mattered little if the previous attack left your opponent recovering and unable to take advantage of the weakness.

Still, every leap backward brought him several feet closer to his destination.

[Shadow]

Shadow drew back; this man would not stay still! "Fine then..."

Stepping back and sheathing his short sword, the night walker reached into his pouch, drawing out a golden coin. Flipping it between his fingers, he smiled, but it was mostly hidden by the night, and the shadows cast by the lone torch on the wall.

The coin glowed briefly, changing from one of the royal coins of the Avaren Mint to a medallion with a large "N" on it. Without any words, Shadow threw the coin to the assassin and backed off, jumping up onto a low overhang and seemingly disappearing into the night.

He would be back, though- to watch the man's progress.

((I figure Shadow will come back as you are turning in the bounty or something))

[Jadin]

The man threw another projectile at him. This time, it looked very much like a small golden coin. What was this? Some sort of magic? Would it explode upon impact, or have some other detrimental effect? Perhaps it was meant as a distraction only, or the intent was for him to be stupid enough to pick it up, thinking it just a normal golden coin, which had some sort of tracing spell placed on it.

No, Jadin was not going to fall for this man's tricks. With one of his swords, he batted the coin out of the air, backpedaling as he did so. Quickly scanning the alley, he did saw no sign of the man. Illusion magic, perhaps? Teleportation?

At any rate, Jadin figured it was time he make it to the streets. No point in backing up slowly if the man might just re-appear at his back. Now it was time to get into the public eye as fast as possible, where only a foolish assassin would make an attempt on his life. Pivoting on the spot, he broke into a sprint, heading swiftly to the street.

[Shadow]

Ah, the open streets.

Even at such an early hour, they were populated, meaning that there was a small amount of people, but everyone kept to themselves- nobody wanted trouble at this hour.

So when the fleeing assassin broke out onto the street, people moved out of his way. So focused on the running man and the mystery of his origin, they did not see the small blackbird flying slightly above and behind the man, a gold piece in his mouth.

Now, Shadow wasn't your average thief, something obviously demonstrated by the fact that he had changed himself into a bird. The fleeing assassin was mostly safe- he had no human pursuer, after all.

The faint light of the coming dawn, combined with the torches that lined the streets gave Shadow's tiny bird form a perfect camouflage- looking at the sky, one would have to be standing still and looking exactly in the right spot to see the bird's silhouette, but only for the briefest of moments.