This is a role play between Lady Tsukiakari, which is myself, and Daeerin. If you happen to stop by and find this slightly entertaining and would like to join the fun send me a message and we'll talk :D.

Our story: On the outside of his target's home a male assassin quite good at his game runs into a very feisty "I'm-Not-Taking-Anyone's-Crap" female thief. Only the All Knowing God of Role Plays knows what will become of the two children of the night!

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He stood over the table, staring down at the instruments he would be putting to use this night. A menacing smile breached his calm face and he could not help the overwhelming adrenaline rush he felt just from thinking about his passion. He calmed himself and holstered the various blades in hidden, but easily accessed places within his outfit. He then adorned the shoulder holster for his twin 45.s and threw his trench coat around himself. He faced the front door to his house and sighed. He felt his body shake again from another burst of adrenaline and a smile yet again broke his calm façade. He slowly exhaled, gathering himself and opened the door entering the late hours of the world he thought to be a dieing cause.

Sonic boom mixed with electric shock resounded throughout all the corners of his mind as lightning struck the ground just in front of where he stood. He kept his calm though and laughed at the thought that the bolt may have been a warning from the heavens. However, not even God was going to prevent the actions about to transpire this night. He rose from his kneeling position and began his descent of one of the many hills that overlooked this town. Why his target had retreated to such a remote and unprotected locations he could not figure, but then again, he did not care. Tonight would be the end. His entire body tensed and relaxed in a sequence that followed the beating of his heart. He felt an edge of the double sided blade he held in an ice pick position press against his wrist. He smiled as he felt blood flow down his arm from a wound caused by a blade so sharp it made a razor look like a butter knife. With this sensation, he relaxed completely and focused again on detecting motion within the house that stood in front of him.

He saw a shadow pass in front of one of the windows on the bottom floor of the building. He sheathed his blade and drew his firearms checking to ensure they were ready to fire. Seeing the seemingly harmless metal piece slide into the firing chamber of each gun made him smile, though he quickly regained his composure and knelt on his right knee. He found it ironic, but that did not stop him. He began a prayer for the person inside the house, “Father, my choice occupation is certainly not one of honor, so lord, I ask that if this life truly is innocent and undeserving of this fate, please intervene. Amen.” He rose to his feet and moved toward the door of the house.

A top a the roof of an unknowing house sat the ebony headed woman as still as stone. Her breathing came slow and deep, as if she were sleeping, and the closure of her iced eyes would have lead some one to believe the charade; in truth the woman merely sat listening to any sound the old house might be willing to give her.

She slowly released a held breath as she heard the shuffling of heavy feet on the first floor of the duel layered building. As silent as a spider she maneuvered her way through a window and into the bedroom of a middle aged man she assumed to be hiding from something. "Backwards all fool." She thought to herself as she sat crouched below the window, "he had plans to meet the Lieutenant tonight..." She laughed softly to herself as she straightened her figure when she heard a gruff stream of cursing follow the sound of a pot or skillet falling from it's position.

With a leather blacked finger pressed to her lip she inspected the room in which she was to find that which she came for. After only a moment she walked to a large oaken chest and attempted to open it; when the door gave no movement she frowned in a some what playful disappointment. "He must not have thought anyone knew about his beautiful Shinwa." She couldn't stop the smirk that claimed her lips as the lid to the chest silently opened. With curious orbs she peered over the wooden edge into the chest seeing nothing at first as her vision adjusted to the lack of light. The first thing her eyes were able process was the black gloss of the scabbard that encased the blade from anything that might wish to tarnish the lethal metallic blade. Slowly she allowed her eyes to travel the length of the sword until they rested on the hilt of the blade. With a gentle fingertip she gingerly outlined the Meiji Era's crest. "How long I have searched for you..." She softly whispered as she removed the blade from it's lonely tomb and allowed herself the guilty pleasure of admiring the sleek shine of the blade within.

Too long had the thief allowed herself to remain in her thoughts for it was the groggy mumbling of the sword's alleged owner that snapped her attention back to the task at hand. With a quick but hushed slam of the chest's lid she flitted to the bedroom door and peered out into the blackness of the hallway, to her great surprise the man was only a few feet away from the door when he suddenly turned and entered what she assumed to be a bathroom. The woman sighed with relief as she secured the sword's strap along her back and silently made her way along the hallway and down the stairs. A smile of victory she allowed to capture the features of her beautiful face as she slipped out the front door and into the night air once more; free from the chance of failure and eyes of the unsuspecting man she began to walk along the cobble like path to the entrance gate that would be the final tie between herself, her sacred sword, and man inside. The smile still lingering on her face...

His gaze immediately fell upon a still darkened figure moving in his direction. He quickly and silently rolled to his right and stayed as low as possible behind a small shrub lining the path to the house. As the figure drew nearer, he noticed it was a female moving toward him. His mind quickly began a mental scan of the files he had been given and a female was mentioned nowhere throughout them. He knew the female had not completed his job for him because the movement that was left in the house was not a panicked rush. He questioned what purpose she could have here and could not explain to himself the present situation. His concern for secrecy had already departed so in order to reach a conclusion about this he drew a small dagger from a holster on his left bicep and planted it in the ground where her next step would fall. He rose from his position and approached her. With his calm, but serious voice he simply said, “Might I ask who the hell you are?” He kept a hand on the handle of a pistol and the other on the hilt of a knife he was more than ready to plant in her throat if need be.

An expression of slight irritation and anger twisted her features as she turned her head slowly to look at the man behind her. "I'm not obligated to answer to an over confident fool" She spat as she freed herself from under the sharp chill of his blade's surface. "And besides would you really remember my name once my shadow could no longer be seen?" Asked the thief as she turned slowly on the ball of her heel to face her questioner. "Just as I suspected." A satisfied smile replaced her agitated anger, "he was hiding here...from some one. I wonder what it is he's done to provoke one to taking this point of action." As she thought a hand rose and grasped the thin black strap that held the sword against her back; unconsciously she gently stroked the black cloth. She studied him and every aspect of like he would the life and constant surroundings of a new target. "Well assassin?"

"It seems as though you're the over confident one." He snarled at her. "I could have chosen to simply end your life you know." He said mockingly down at her. "Though you are wrong. I do remember the names of the lives I take, I even keep the records of all of my kills." He noticed her stroking the the strap that held an item to her back. "Probably stole it..." He thought to himself. "Nevertheless woman, if you refuse to give me your name so be it. I suggest you hurry up and get out of here before they notice the item you're carrying is missing. You wouldn't want to be around when I go in there anyway." With that he turned away from her, keeping track of the movements she would take though, and headed for the house again.

At first the woman merely stood there and stared at the man's back as he turned to proceed into the house but soon the meaning of his words sank into her mind. With clutched teeth the woman gave his back the hardest thrust her body could manage. "That's rude you stupid prick." Hissed the woman her booted foot touched the cobble ground once more. "You don't walk away from some one without first dismissing yourself and allow them to do the same. It's common cutesy I figure even an idiot like you would have been taught that much." She paused her streak of insults for a moment to catch the breath she hadn't bothered to notice until now. "Over confidence can get one such as myself killed. I am not over confident." She commented, the anger in her voice seemed to flare again as she glared down at him. "This 'item' hasn't been touched in years. I doubt the backwards old fool even knows where it is regardless of what it's worth." She took time to examine what she could see of his own blades, "anyone with a passion for swords would surely know what I carry. But I wouldn't expect a moron like you to even have a faint clue as to it's name." Her arms crossed tightly across her chest as her eyes continued to pierce through him, "My name is mine...I don't hand it out as freely as I do my hands, so either you die or you go about your business."

He stopped after he figured she was done and as he turned to her again he was greeted with another barrage of insults. When he knew she was done he simply stared at her in awe that she could so calmly and without fear insult someone of his skill. He took a step back toward her and said, "Well then, excuse me. I'm sorry for my crudeness. You're right, the blade you carry on your back is a very nice one. I was told I could have the katana if I found it after I completed my task. It seems to have found a new owner prior to me though, so congratulations on your find." He sighed let a slight pause come over them. His glance moved to a motion inside the house then back to her. "If you will please excuse me though, I really have business I must promptly attend to, so with your acceptance," he smiled at the last phrase, "I will be on my way." He then made a move to turn a way from her again, keeping a close watch though in case she did decide she wanted to further deter him.

"You may go." She said softly as she allowed her softened eyes to watch him to the door. An unusual feeling set in on her chest, a feeling that told her to stay until he committed his own crime. "Go and do as you will." The thief thought to herself, "but I'll be waiting..." With this she traveled out the gate and leaned against one of the tall stone posts that stood on either side of the entrance. She knew he wouldn't take long.

He turned completely away from her now but looked back as she voiced her acceptance of his departure. His green eyes bore into her orbs. He felt regret, not so much for having to end the conversation he was beginning to enjoy, but also because he knew another life would be lost this night. He nodded to her and then sprang into a silent run toward the front door of the house. As he was reaching the door he saw a shadow pass one of the upstairs windows. The adrenaline kicked in and he took flight with a foot extended toward the wooden door. On contact the door shattered as it flew off of its hinges and he landed centering where it once stood. He spotted the stair case and before he even looked up it he sent a bullet from a now drawn pistol into the wall at the top. Knowing he had his target's attention now he bolted up the stairs drawing his other pistol and sending a bullet in each direction once he got to the top of it. His target, however, did have some intelligence and had dropped to the floor with a gun of his own extended in the direction of the intruder. Though before he could pull the trigger, the man had jumped high into the air sailing toward him and a bullet struck first the gun in his hands and then his shoulder. The assassin walked over and stood over the figure laying in the floor clenching his shoulder. He holstered his pistols and drew a dagger from a holster on his leg and slit both of the man's wrists. "Just relax." He whispered in the now doomed man's ear. "A peace will overtake you before you leave this world. I also suggest you seek forgiveness in the short time you have left." He cleaned his blade on the man's shirt and stood, holstering the blade. He said a quick prayer and walked down the stairs and out of the entrance. He looked back up to the upper level of the house and shook his head. Then he proceeded down the pathway leaving the man to whatever eternity he might find.

She had waited, just as she had told herself she would, for him to exit the property. "Tell me." She said as they began walking in an opposite direction from the house, her voice no longer held the venom in which she had used for their first conversation but it was 'matter of factual' and guarded. "What makes you think what I have here is a Katana?"

He could not help but wonder why the woman had waited for him. He really doubted it was simply to hold a conversation, but feeling as he was he enjoyed her presence and replied. "Well, though I can not see it, the fold of the cloth around the weapon seems to resemble one." He answered he question, his voice no longer holding any fierceness or threat. He looked over at her as they walked and questioned, "Am I wrong in my assumption?"

A genuine smile crossed her lips as they walked. "No, no you weren't wrong." She waited a moment as one of hands reached behind her head to re-adjust the dark ribbon that held her ebony locks fixed into the shape of a ball on the back of her head. "What all, if any, information did they give you on this sword?" She asked.

"None whatsoever." He stated plainly. "They simply know of my admiration of blades. They honestly don't give me much more information than my next target's name. If stealth were ever absolutely necessary I doubt they would inform me." He laughed at his realization of just how much faith he put in the people that guided his life. He looked into her eyes again and laughed as he asked, "Do I get your name this time?"

"What a wonderful way to live your life." She commented, "allow others to know everything but informing you on nothing." Her hand rose to again stroke the fabric connected to the sword. "If they told you nothing of this beautiful blade then how did you know it was there? And that it would be considered a 'nice find'?"

"I didn't know it would be a nice find until I saw it strapped to your back. The simple fact someone else was after it made it obvious it has some value." He laughed a little. "My lifestyle is shaky." He agreed with her comment. "I don't enjoy it that much, but it pays very well and I'm good at it. I don't like letting people control my actions either, but again, I'm not sure how a "normal" life would suite me, so here I remain." He looked to the ground in front of him then back up to her. "What about you? How did you come to know of the blade and what has brought you into thievery?"

"We'll skip my story entirely." She stated shortly, "but my knowledge of the blade I don't mind sharing." She allowed a moment's silence to settle over them as she watched the sliver of moon that hung above them. "Like others in the world I have a sort of obsession with anything sharp, so it was only natural that it lay strongest with the swords of this world. I lived in Nagoya for two or three years, it was during this time I was asked by a league of assassins to accompany one of their best to an estate in Tokyo. Apparently their best wasn't able to kill his target silently enough to also snatch a 'priceless' scroll. I was younger then of course and had just established myself in the underground as being the best, so I took the job." Here she paused and looked into his eyes momentarily before continuing with her story, "We arrived at the estate just as the sky turned to ink. We both had our orders and had replayed them in our minds so many times even he must remember them. When I finally found the room I had been searching for I grabbed the scroll the minute my mind confirmed what my eyes were seeing....I turned and when I did I saw it. It seemed to hover over the royal blue velvet that lay beneath it, and the glass it was encased in only made my desire for it even stronger." A soft laughed sounded in the air around her as she thought of how naive she felt herself to be. "The room was filled with many other historical artifacts but this one...this sword," again her fingers touched the strap, "was the most valuable. I hadn't the time to take it then, but as we left the assassin shed more light on the blade than I would have liked to hear. He told of how the people who believed in the sword's background had given it the title Shinwa: densetsu no tsurugi which I learned later meant "Sword of Legend"...that the swordsman had served in a bloody war prior to the dawning of the Meiji Era and was a good soldier. They claim he like a shadow...he made no noise whatsoever...they claimed his victims only died. The story goes that the man had only come to realize the amount of blood that was on his hands and died...when he died the sword went missing. The boy who found him said he was just there...as if he had fallen asleep and never woke up." The ice of her eyes had rested on a dark formation of trees as she spoke, her voice drenched with the awe she had for the blade and it's story. "I went after it again not long after that." Her tone returned to normal as she stole a glance at his face for only a moment, "they had sold it to some antique trader who I was never able to track down. It arrived here about three or four years ago...it's taken me this long to find it again but I had promised myself it would be mine...and so it is..." It was here a more prominent silence settled as she allowed him time to process her story, "so you see...this blade holds great value."

"A very nice find indeed." He nodded when she had finished her story. He looked toward the sky and felt the press of weariness on his eyelids. He looked back to her and said, "I would like to press you further for your story, but I must depart. If you happen to be robbing someone I'm killing again I suppose we'll talk further and I'll try not to greet you with a blade." He let a slight smile cross his lips. He brought a hand up and made a small wave goodbye and took off running.

He opened the door to his home and stepped in. The smile that had overcame him on his way back still lingered as he spoke to himself. "An interesting night it has been." He walked to the table in his kitchen and opened the laptop sitting on it. He sent a letter confirming his kill to the company that pretty much ran his life and then shut the contraption off. He walked to his bed and fell on it not bothering to move he lay there and let sleep bring him to the next day, the next assignment, and what he hoped for, but knew better than, another chance meeting.

As the assassin bounded off and out of her vision the woman couldn't help but to allow the same victorious expression to be displayed on her smooth features. "I do wonder if he believe my tale..." She thought to herself as she leaped into the cover of the trees, "And I still have my name." A soft laugh whispered through the trees as she progressed towards the place she called home.

When the door to her estate opened, the woman behind it noticed nothing different about her appearance except the new item she carried in both hands. "Welcome m'lady." Said the woman timidly, "I see your search went well." The thief nodded with a smile as she hung her long creme colored coat on one of the racks. "I did...I was afraid it was going to be quiet expensive considering what all has been said...but it was actually an amazing deal." She answered pleasantly before smoothing out the ruby cloth of her dress, "I ironed it this morning and again before you went out madam..." A nervousness could clearly be detected in the maid's voice as she watched her employer smooth the dress again. The thief merely smiled softly and shook her head, "And it was perfect the when I put it on. Those seats aren't very comfortable you know." A look of relief washed over the younger maid as the woman dismissed her for the night and retired to her room.

A weary sigh mixed with the moisture the hot water of the shower brought as she stood and allowed the constant water to wash down her cheeks. The clock that sat beside the bed read two A.M...which meant she was wasting at least an hour of her remaining four on this shower; but the blistering water brought a masochistic relief to her tired overworked body.

"You'll catch your death." She lightly scolded herself as she closed the bathroom door behind her, the draft from the room and the gentle breeze from the door brought goose bumps to her bare skin as she made her way to the over sized bed: her hair would have to wait til' morning. She snuggled her way a little deeper into the inviting blankets of the bed and when her own heat began to warm the layers of cloth she allowed her lids to close to the early morning's darkness.

He awoke to an irritating ding that repeatedly emanated from the clock on the shelf next to his bed. "Why do I even set the stupid thing?" He thought to himself as he rolled over and hit buttons until the noise stopped. He reluctantly got up and payed attention to the numbers on the clock. It read 11:15 A.M. which meant it had been dinging for an hour. He laughed at that fact then proceeded to his bathroom where he turned the shower water to a near blistering level, stripped, and stepped in. After he had washed and re-dressed himself in black cargo pants and a gray T-shirt he sat at his table and turned on his only link the the people who told him what to do. After everything had loaded he was immediately greeted with a pop up confirming his payment for the previous night's job. Then after confirming his payment he received and email telling him where his next target was located. He sighed at the information but spent the next hour memorizing the layout of the house and all routes to and from it. After he was sure he knew it by heart he turned the computer off and moved to make sure all of his weapons would be ready. He cleaned the blades and firearms as though they were a part of himself and after becoming satisfied they were ready he went to the kitchen and began preparing a meal.

When night had fallen he felt that exhilarating surge of energy but dismissed it and left for the next doomed person who's name happened to come his way.

"Out again tonight, miss?" Asked the maid as the woman slid a pair of brown pantyhose over the calves of her smooth slender legs, "yes..it seems so." She replied with a reluctant sigh as she slipped on a pair of sleek black heels. As she stood a reflection of herself she glimpsed in the mirror that hung on the wall, with another sigh, though this one of agitation, she gazed at it for quite a while before raking through her hair with a brush and tying it up in it's signature bun. "I hope you'll forgive me for saying so madam but I think you should leave your hair down for the night; you always look so lovely with it hanging down your back." The maid smiled timidly as the thief turned to face her, "hmm...perhaps you're right." Came her unenthused reply as she removed the black silk ribbon from her hair and examined the way it fell around her face; seeing as how the maid was right she turned and gave her a thankful smile, "take care of things for me during my absence." She asked lightly, "of course." Came the maid's reply as the woman grabbed the same beige coat left the room.

The woman allowed the chauffeur to drive her to the auction house where she had often done business before she realized how much easier it was to take what she needed. Once the car was out of her vision she made her way through the doors and into the women's bathroom to change out of her 'street clothes' and into the outfit she normally wore when burglarizing whatever building she happen to take interest in. Before leaving the auction house bathroom she pulled her hair once more to a bun and did a quick shoe swap. Once her 'look' was 'complete' she threw on the coat and silently exited the building.

Like a good little girl the woman had managed to get the blueprints of the house, had checked any and all staff, and the family medical records before proceeding with her plan. A straight river ran on the east side of the white washed estate, the bank of this said river was high enough for one to travel along the river's edge without the fear of being caught; aside from the high bank there was also a thin line of trees separating the embankment and the river from the neatly trimmed yard.

Foolish they were not to have invested in human guards or at least dogs to alert them when something unfamiliar roamed on the outskirts of their comfort zone, but unfortunately for them they had only a security system which she had found didn't apply to the windows of the second story. As silent and quick as a fox she climbed to the second story and slipped into a window they apparently never locked. The room in which she arrived in was the very room she had needed, the woman couldn't fight the smile than slid to her lips as she looked around the unusually large library. "I wonder how many books they have littering these shelves on keeping thieves' hands out of their lovely things." She smugly questioned as she waled over and gave one of the shelves a little tug. As expected the bookshelf opened as a doorway would to reveal a heavy metallic vault, within the necessary tries she was able to open the vault to find the jewelry that would ultimately be her unrequited savior. As quickly as she had arrived and accomplished what she had originally set out to do she relocked the vault and left the library with no traces that an outsider had seen the inside of the room.

The window gave a soft click as she slid it closed and stood silently waiting for any sound that might find it's way to her ears. A gently nod of her head she allowed as only the normal sounds of the large estate continued; given this conformation she swiftly leaped off the railing and rushed into the safety of the trees knowing she had come just one more step closer to reaching her goal.

He stood there, staring at the activities of the ill fated man through a window of his house. The family had stayed up later than he had planned on, but it didn't matter. He would wait until they slept before he committed his deed. A quick movement drew his attention from an upper level of the house and when he let his eyes fall on the action he witnessed someone leaping from the upper level down toward the river. He immediately took toward the falling figure, fearing someone had seen him. He drew a pistol and as he approached the river allowed its sights to lead his eyes.

A surge of surprise and relief feel over him as he saw the woman he had met previously. He lowered his gun and re-holstered it. He stepped out from his hiding spot hoping to surprise her he said, louder than necessary, "Fancy seeing you here."

The woman allowed a deep sigh of relief to pass through her nostrils as she moved her eyes to look at him. With her relief hidden from the outside world she smiled in a somewhat flirtatious manner, "I thought that was you, assassin." She said as she walked up beside him and leaned against a tree. The woman averted her gaze from his face to the midnight water and chose not to speak for a moment or two. "You have a certain scent...perhaps an aftershave or cologne..." She laughed and slightly shook her head, "perhaps it's even a shampoo..." Her hazel orbs now retreated from the lake and rested on his own eyes as her smile widened, "but nevertheless it's quite interesting to find you here. Are your duties done or have you yet to hit your target?"

He smiled at her comments and replied, "A killer tries to be as clean as possible. Blood, after all, isn't an attractive scent, to most." He smiled again. "No, my job has not been carried out yet. I plan on letting the family fully enjoy their last night together with all of its members alive." He looked down as he said his statement letting a somber tone finish it. After a few moments he looked back up to her having recovered from his state and asked, "So thief, what item have you came after this time?" He smirked at her. "Or have you simply come to see me?" He laughed to himself and instinctively looked over his shoulder up to the house to see if anything seemed different.

"HA! You only wished some one such as myself would make a point to run into you." She claimed, her smile still lingering on the smooth planes of her face, "I have what I came for, I don't need to tell you. And if you so earnestly wished to know you could always do an inventory of their house." As her hazel orbs met his own eyes it wasn't hard to tell how much the woman was enjoying herself; her eyes seemed to sparkle like the river's water in amusement. "And I do wish you'd stop addressing me as thief, it's quite rude to call a lady by the title of her profession."