[Alright, I don't think I can wait any longer. Sorry Rae!]

Haakon pushed Darius into the tavern, laughing strongly under the weight of his third cup of the afternoon, behind him came his friend who looked to be just as merry though more reserved than the jolly pair of humans he was tailing. As was their tradition they were draining Darius' purse of a fair amount of it's jingle at each stop.

"Another one! Else we be light drinkers tonight, Longbow!" Haakon beamed at his reserved friend.

Longbow shook his head "Stay. We have yet to hear what Johannes -er, Darius, sorry- was tracking us down for. Private fellow as he is must have some fancy business he'll need done."

"Ahh! Just one more round while he speaks. Then we can sober up for the night." Haakon pushed Darius over toward an empty table, pointing it out as if neither of his companions could find it for themselves before shuffling into Marco's evacuated chair. "Er- let me just get this 'un for you Miss." Haakon gave her a nod, pushing the chair in and cheerfully made broad strides for the counter.

[It's not really long enough to justify my having not posted in 9 days, but it's probably the best place to break in should you want, Minty!]

[No worries :) and welcome back Mythos]

The silver armored woman looked up in surprise after someone offered something to her. She wasn't exactly paying attention to what he said but nodded in thanks anyway after the man pushed the empty chair in. Even more surprising was when she realized that Darius was now at the table near hers. "Darius?" she asked, having done a double take. "What are you doing here?" She eyed the blond rider with curiosity before looking at who he was with. It wasn't the strong armed girl they had been with earlier at the church but another man. "And who's your friend?" Veata could only hope he was a potential ally. She could use some good news right about now.

[Sorry for the shortish post as well :XP]

The rider perked up and moved over to Veata's table, waving for Longbow to follow him. "Didn't know you'd be here, they wanted to stop in for a drink to catch up and hear about some business... At least they're promising that's the case. This is our third try at the drinking part." Despite looking a little exacerbated, Darius definitely had found the benefits of sleep and it had worked it's magic over his general disposition quite well. "Er, right. This is Longbow. He's an old friend of mine and that one," He pointed out Haakon, who had by now started up a loud conversation with someone near him at the bar, "Is Haakon--"

"--The mature one, I assure you." Longbow grinned.

Darius looked at Veata's meal quickly, before looking back up at her face and giving her a comforting smile. "Not hungry? I can help you with any meal, you know... But before I grab your dinner roll from you, and doubtless receive a fork through my hand, I should probably tell these two goons about our plan, huh?"

Longbow nodded "I'm quite interested to know what help you need. Haakon's been rather restless for fame, lately."

"If you can truly say you trust them," she began with a small smile, pushing her partially eaten meal towards her hungry friend, "Then by all means." She then scanned the face of the man who was with them before turning to look at the other at the bar. "So Longbow and Haakon, eh? How is it that you know each other?" Veata returned her gaze to the two before her, curiosity was evident on her fair face. The silver clad woman reclined to a more relaxed position in her chair while waiting for either Darius or his friend to answer.

Longbow grabbed the prized bread roll before Darius could recover from the original glee of food being offered to him. Tearing the bread in half, Longbow also took the initiative to answer Veata while Darius pouted next to him "The three of us have known one another for many years. We all grew up close together and adventured together for a while. Joh- Darius here is like our little brother." He handed Darius one of the pieces... which quickly vanished behind a gate of teeth.

"They're jerks is what he means." Darius mumbled while chewing the bread.

Haakon waved at his new 'friend' brightly and swaggered toward the table he had earlier pointed Longbow and Darius to. Confused for only a moment he found them sitting with Veata and wasted no time in finding the closest open seat to her and occupying it. "Well who is this you found?" he grinned, "She looks pretty different, Johannes, but she's definitely cute. I'm guessing she's from somewhere to the South?" He made a motion to take Veata's hand to kiss before Darius stopped him.

"She could take your life in a second, Haakon."

"And don't think for a second we'd mind a little peace."

Haakon pouted and changed his mind on kissing Veata's hand to simply shaking it. He pushed the two other men their respective drinks and muttered something about 'having to find new friends at some point.'

"Long story short these two are basically my brothers and as good as family. I would and have trusted them with my life many times." Darius managed to get out through the bits of food he was stuffing into his face. "Haakon is his original name, and Longbow was once Anders, but he's won a name... or at least he's using a name he's won."

"I'm curious as to just where you picked up 'Darius', actually." Longbow turned to his friend.

Darius swallowed down a piece of deliciously cooked meat and shook his head "That's for another time, we need to talk about some stuff that's going on in this village before we get to stories like that, alright?"

"Oh, I see." Veata replied with understanding after Longbow had explained how he and Haakon knew Darius. Her spirits were definitely lifted when Darius added the last comment as he ate. He was as food minded as always. Eating was a hobby that she shared with him, and that was also how they got to know each other better during the mission.

They're little conversation was temporarily interrupted by the other man who had just returned to the company of his friends. The djinn was flattered when she heard Haakon called her cute, although she was already confident with her looks despite having reptilian eyes and bone crushing sharp teeth. She grinned as she accepted his handshake. "Yes, from the red deserts."

When Darius began talking about how they were as good as family, it got Veata thinking about her family. Trust and reliability were definitely not words she could associate them with. For one, djinn were notorious for being violent and cruel, even to their own kind. Children were often left to fend for themselves at an early age and most live solitary lives, patrolling wide territories they would claim for themselves if they had the strength. Living for one's self was every djinn's motto. Indeed it took a while for Veata herself to overcome her kind's penchant for misdeeds. Setting those thoughts aside, she also began to wonder about how Darius came to be known as Darius if winning titles was how the three got the names they could call themselves.

"Well, we can't go into too much detail out here." she said, referring to who they plan on going against and looking around for any signs of spies. "But for the most part, our guild and most of the town's been taken over by a certain bloodthirsty man."

"That won't do." Haakon butted in. "An officer? Tax-master fellow? We can handle them for you, no problem..."

Darius grunted and nudged Haakon some "I'm an officer now, dolt."

"I know, and I'm very upset over it, too."

"Could we go outside, perhaps? Er... once we're finished with these drinks."

Haakon clapped his hand sharply against Longbow's back and laughed "Yes! Yes, after the drinks! They're good and cheep here, Darius, I can see why you stayed! We'll talk later, but then you'll have to tell me more about the deserts." The cheery North-man winked at Veata, which made Darius furrow his brows some. Of course it didn't take much time before Haakon had downed the last bit of amber liquid in his cup, whereas Darius and Longbow paced themselves... and for good reason.

By the time the other two finished their drinks and stood to leave, Haakon had developed quite a slur and stagger, but maintained the same goofy grin he had sober or not. "To a quiet spot!" He announced, pointing toward the door.

Quietly to Veata Longbow whispered "We can drop him off in our room for a bit, he'll get the idea and sober up some. He'll be useless for an hour or so, now."

Atticus nodded. "Rest. But not for too long." The half-elf ran a hand through his long gray-brown hair. "We need to get it done tonight."
He moved to pat Daeman's shoulder awkwardly, and then leaned back against the wall. "Where should we go after the bunks?" His gray eyes flashed. "There might be a few of the traitors loitering about the front door. The very sight of us might cause a bit of panic . . . we could point out the hesitant ones easily. Tracking them down wouldn't be a challenge."

((Hehe, forgot that it was my turn to post. :XD))

Cheers!" Veata said, before finishing her drink while the boys finished theirs. After they were done, only one man showed signs of having had too much of what they drank. The spearwoman smiled when Haakon swayed uncertainly as he walked to the door and nodded in agreement to Longbow's suggestion. "We should probably start heading for the opera house soon. It's about time we met up with some of our other allies." Though the ale was giving her a good buzz now, her stomach was starting to churn with slight paranoia once more. She was hoping to the high heavens that their meeting with William would remain as hidden as the moon was on a stormy night.

"Of course. I would say try the mess hall.. theres got to be a few people talking about what has happened today. Most who dont talk with an excited voice or something might be a traitor but it depends on their face." Daeman said as she laid down on her back. She looked up at the cieling thinking of all the possible people that could be traitors.

((Sorry for the short post... I have to go))

"Opera house?" Haakon grinned, "How'd you know I were a man of the arts?"

"You're not a man of the arts, you're a man of the bottle. We'll find you your bed before you saw logs in the lobby."

The two, mostly-sober riders deposited their friend quickly, and joined Veata for the walk down to the opera house. The road there was still gritty under-foot due to the previous heavy rain, and each step crackled as it landed on the gravel and sand path, leaving a shallow trail for each adventurer.

Darius was falling in step behind Longbow, often looking up at the back of the man as their feet carried the party up hill to the opera house. He was nervous about him, and that fact was easy to read on his face. Easy, except for Longbow, of course, who was smiling and trying to chat politely with Veata.

"I would hate to see someone like yourself getting tangled up in Haakon's messes..."

"And what 'messes' might they be?" she asked curiously. She wasn't sure if she was imagining things but it looked to her as if Darius was worried about something. Perhaps it was just because he was a little jumpy about potential spies of Cain following them. Veata thought that it would be best to keep a sharp eye and ear out in case the fears she assumed her friend to have were well founded. They were getting closer to the dark alleyway, a narrow space but it still would allow them to easily notice if any unwanted guests were listening in since there wouldn't be too many places to hide. That and the fact that the opera house was often as noisy as a tavern. The plays were very good and the singing was always loud. The crowds would always be cheering for the performance if not for the lovely ladies and handsome gentlemen who graced the stage.

Atticus nodded, leaning against the wall beside Daeman's bed. Crossing his arms over his chest, the assassin let his gray eyes drift to the floor.
"Indeed," he whispered, falling into his typical mask of cold neutrality.
Running his fingers over his twin blades, the half-elf closed his eyes.
"Let me know when you're ready to go," Atticus said quietly, letting himself sink to the floor and sit. In the end, his gaze flitted to Dae herself, there to stay.

((Just let me know what's expected of William and his side, and we'll get that moving. :D

And whatever ended up happening to Ivy and all them? >_>'
:lol: Heck, we need some more bad guy help . . . but I have a little bit for that planned. Just wondering what we'll do against all this mess! Whew, there's bound to be a TON of good guys! (Thank goodness) :boogie:))

((Lol wow Es... You want us to lose huh? Lmao jk))

Daeman smiled as the man went to the floor to sit. He was fiddling with his twin blades as she watched. She needed some sleep but knew it might not come to her due mostly to the events that have been happening. She put her hands behind her head as she looked back up at the cieling. What was the feeling that was coming to her? She has felt it before but only when she was walking to the camp of her brother. She blinked and tried to figure it out. Maybe one of his spies were watching her again. Always and forever would her brother be mysteriously watching her but she needed to try to rest now before the next fight. Finally she closed her eyes and fell into a light sleep.
20 mins later she wakes up and looks around. hmmmm... how long did i sleep? She looks out the window and sees that the moon had only moved but inches away from where it had been. She went up to Atticus. "Hey we should prolly finish the job now and find the ones that have fled. You know there will be some that flee" She said smiling an little bit of an evil smerk.

"He's just careless at times... Things go to chaos when he's bored and that sort of thing. I'm not sure if it's because he wants to have more fun fixing things or what, really..."

Darius looked over his shoulder before entering the alleyway. He figured they hadn't been followed so far, but their upcoming conversation required a certain level of security none-the-less.

"I think we're good here, right? Or did I have the directions messed up? I wasn't exactly very sentient."

((:lol: Right! Bad guys have to lose!! *chuckle*))

"Yes," Atticus agreed, standing. Flipping his deep hood over his head, the half-elf moved to the door. "Let's get this job finished. I need to prepare for the others."
It was only a few minutes later when he moved into the main area of the guild - and even then, it wasn't hard to find the one's they were looking for. Some of them were smart enough to act normal. Others slipped out of the room. Some just looked panicked.
Glancing to Daeman, the assassin moved to the first victim.
"I wish to speak with you," he said quietly, having the man follow him into another room. It was best if there wasn't a huge public killing. Not now. Not this time.

"Sounds like a cousin of mine." Veata replied with a laugh. The cousin she was thinking of, however, reveled in chaos and didn't bother to fix any of the problems he made. Neither did he care about the lives he took. A bloodthirsty fiend at best. Taking one last look around as Darius did, they slipped into the shadows of the narrow place. "No, this is the place." she replied to her friend. Music blared as they made their way to the end of the dark path where the djinn expected a certain thief to be waiting. "Will, are you there?" she asked the shadows in a slightly lowered voice.
__________________-

Hadrian looked up from his drink and reluctantly followed the man to the room. Atticus was younger than him by a decade but he knew he was as skilled as any professional killer. "What do you want Atticus?" he asked, although he already knew what was to come. His hand tensed on a weapon hidden in his sleeve.
___________-

Many eyes were on the two assassins when they walked through the guild. Word traveled fast even though it risked death. Hidden glances fell on the half-elf when he called a man aside and followed him after they had entered a room. Some shook their heads at the event while others started placing bets. The usual reaction in the darkened guild. Those rookies who panicked and made a run for it would likely not survive the night even if they were innocent of plotting against Cain.
"I place 20 on the guard captain's son." one figure said, pushing a stack of coins towards the middle of a table.
"21 on Hadrian." came a reply.
"My friend, you are a terrible gambler. 30 on the half-elf." said another.
Murmurs like these rippled across one table as experienced members cast lots over Cain's agents of death. To others who were clueless, the night was busy just as any other before.

[Just a bunch of filler people descriptions and stuff so you guys don't have to always think about who's there and who's not :)]

Daeman followed him down the hall. "I understand" was her response to him needing time. She looked around the room when Atticus asked a man to join him. It seemed that word traveled fast as the men placed their bets on who was going to win. She knew of course it would be Atticus. It had to be. She sat down at a table where she knew plenty of other traders were sitting. She acted casual. "Hey guys. Mind if i join you for a bit... Actually i was sent to take you to Cain.. He has your next jobs." She said to the traitors in a normal voice so they wouldnt know that she knew what they were. They smiled and followed her out of the room. Once out she decided to take them to a small room to wait instead of going to Cains office. "Sorry guys. He told me to bring you in here and wait for his arrival" She said as they all walked inside thinking he was in there. To their suprise and dismay, she closed the door and locked it.

[Lol, Goodbye people who followed Daeman and Atticus :XD]

((So is everyone about caught up to where I was since I raced ahead lol :feesh: I'm ready to post again...))

[I guess we're at about the same time :)]

(So there is a bloodbath coming up soon yes lol :twisted:)

((I would say we are caught up with you.... And OMG i was dying of laughter from the

Loved it Minty))

[@Marsyas: Most likely
@ Daeman: TY ]

Laughter. It was unbelievable to hear such a thing in a deadly and dismal place, yet there it was. Either the people who could laugh were oblivious to the murders around them or they themselves were used to such a thing. Death was part of life after all and life in an assassin's guild involved death.

"How about 30 on the girl as well?" a gambler added, piling up coins into a straight pillar before him.
"That's cheap. We already know she's good." another commented.
"Well I'll bite. But I'm only putting 20." said one more.
"Yes."

At first glance, this certain association seemed like any other guild. Well, aside from the rather gloomy exterior, the insides were still teeming with life, so to speak. A few weary guild members had just returned from a mission. Their aching bodies looked forward to the momentary rest they would receive from their beds. A pair of men stood guard outside the guild entrance while another stood guard within the doors. Both sets would converse with their partner and some familiar passers by to entertain themselves as they waited for the end of their shifts. Groups of warriors conversed with each other in the hallways and at the mess hall, trading information or bragging about bloody and glorious accomplishments. A few masters of dagger and dart throwing were gathered around a bullseye on the second floor to test their skills against their peers. It was almost a common meeting place for them.

Yes, the guild was buzzing with life. The lives of people under the leadership of one man. But there were those who weren't so loyal to this leader. There were those who plotted against him in the shadows. However, they wouldn't live for long. What held their other guildmates loyal to Cain wasn't just his title or the money and bloodshed associated with missions, but fear. Fear of a man with great power.
____________________-

Slender fingers ran through sea green hair as a yawn escaped form the man's lips. "What a drag.." he muttered, walking down a familiar hallway towards a familiar office. Faust brushed off any ghosts of the peaceful sleep he had been enjoying before he was so rudely summoned by his old acquaintance. He had known Cain from when they still lived in their old country but the man suddenly left to join this certain guild. Now he was the guild master, something that Faust was surprised to find but sort of expected in a way. The foreign swordsman had only arrived in the often cloudy town a day ago after receiving an odd yet intriguing invitation from his old friend. "I wonder if it's true..." he mused to himself as he waited for Cain's personal and usually slacking guards to waive him through.

[So...yeah...more descriptions and an intro of my new character....My character can be timeskipped to the next day by the way. It looks like there's already a lot happening on this night :)]

..