Thread: Midnight Rhapsody

The night was her home. It called to her, singing a sweet song of seduction that the woman couldnt resist. It cloaked her in shadows and hid her from prying eyes as she went about her work. The night was a thiefs friend. It was also her enemy. For what the night concealed of her actions, so too would it of anothers. But Arcia wasnt stupid. She had spent the majority of her life in the streets. She knew that anyone who failed to observe and listen, failed to survive. She had long since earned respect in her field and was a rum hand at her work. From card sharping to angling, from pocket diving to playing the roost. She had long since mastered the skills of her trade earning her the name Nightingale for her fleet work and beauty. She was as ruthless as any breaker and loved out foxing her opponents. Treasures were her favorite thing to procure and she was in the middle of just such a thing. A moonless night shadowed her, concealing her from the Night Watch as she moved silently through the back alleys of her prowling grounds. She felt the night chill and embraced it. It was perfect for what she intended. Moving closer towards her target, a large estate on the east side of town, she stopped in an ally just shy and looked over the area once more. She had ordered her men to case the place for the past week and had joined in on the last two in order to confirm her intel. Her target was a large amulet heavily encrusted with gems worth a kings ransom. Some trinket from an age long past that seemed to have a particular appeal to quite a few people. She had noted other parties around the area that didnt belong several times on her previous runs. She doubted they would have the grit for the work. The estate was wrapped in a large stone wall at least ten feet tall and two feet thick. She had already gotten the layout from a very eager to please guard who, after several drinks, and carefully rebuffed attempts at an intimate night, awoke none the wiser from a drug induced sleep in a slummed inn in a less than reputable part of town. All that had been left behind indicating what might have happened was a piece of a womans garments. After prying him of everything he knew, Arcia had endured his pawing till the drugs took affect and left him off in a rented room with a bra conveniently left on the floor at the foot of the bed. She had even left small tantalizing comments with a few people there about his prowess in the bedroom before departing. Confidant that he would awake believing his fortunes had only improved during the seemingly forgotten night. There was another person casing the place tonight as well. Arcia could make them out from the slight shifts in the shadows of an alleyway not far from the main gate and clear to her view. Rookie. she thought to herself as she watched the young man move about. He had at stuck to the shadows, so she couldnt make him out save a few movements here and there, but she knew he was growing impatient. Removing her customary silk bandana from her head, she let her dark hair fall around her shoulders and shifted in the slight coat she wore. It had been liberated from a rather well to do shop just this afternoon to replace one she had to part with earlier. Arcia wasnt above playing whatever part it took to get her job done, from a fancy girl to a maiden in distress. She had become whatever her job had required and had then melted into the shadows. Few ever saw her coming and even fewer had ever met her in the act and survived to tell the tale. Deciding that the rookie in the alley needed to be taught a lesson about interfering in her scores on her own turf and run off before he could complicate her own agenda, Arcia staggered slightly from the alleyway and into the light of a nearby streetlamp. Her lips moving silently, she stumbled towards the guards posted at the gate of the estate. As she drew near she caught their full attentions and leaned heavily against the wall trembling and letting out a broken sob. Help. she said in a shaken voice. Slowly she pushed herself off of the wall and stumbled towards the guards, one of whom had started cautiously towards her. As he drew near, Arcia stumbled forward once more and reached out, suddenly loosing her balance and pitching forward. The guard rushed forward catching her as she collapsed and she pressed her face tightly to his chest sobbing and shaking as she clung to him. Please help. she said weakly and looked up at him with large brown eyes. Arcia knew full well the effect she had on most men and had used it more than once. She watched as he looked her over, his pupils shrinking slightly as he struggled to contain his surprise. His left arm slid around her waist and pulled her closer. She did nothing to resist, only stared at him with a silent plea. Maam, whats wrong? He asked in a low gruff voice. A piss poor attempt at soothing, Arcia none the less played along and took a moment to gather her frayed nerves. A man. He attacked me several moments ago. H-he said she forced out a tremor and closed her eyes tightly looking away and pulled her hands to her chest. She felt the man stiffen and felt his hand on her cheek. Turning her head to meet his gazed, she swallowed hard and continued. He said he wanted to know what I tasted like she let her voice break half way through and looked up to find the man struggling to contain his anger. He began questioning her on where this had happened and what the man had looked like. She began to answer his questions then suddenly froze as her gaze swept the alley where the would be thief stood, watching the scene unfold but to far away to hear the exchange. Hes still here! she shouted suddenly pointing towards the alleyway and nearly smiling as she saw him step back and heard his footfalls as he began to flee. She heard two swords slide from their scabbards as the man still at the gate rushed forth into the alley and ordered his companion, the man holding her, to try and head him off. Will you be alright miss? the man asked, to which she nodded. Please dont let him hurt anyone else! she said in a worried tone. The man nodded and set off after his companion. Smiling to herself, Arcia then slipped silently through the gate and into the grounds of the estate. Not more than seven minutes later she was scaling the walls with her prize tucked firmly in a pouch at her waist. Quickly leaving the scene, she could hear the clamors inside as the guards raced about to find her. She had purposely taken longer than normal so that the fact of the object being stolen would raise the attentions of the entire house staff. She didnt want there to be any doubt the object had been taken, and knew that there was a good chance that the owners would try to replace the object with a fake and hunt for the thief on their own terms to retrieve it. Slipping through the back alleys along her escape route, she took her time in getting back to the hide out. She already had a buyer interested in the item and knew that for her next gig she would need some heavy coin. For her next gig wasnt a what, but a who