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It was another lonely night in the Old Sanatorium, the chilly breeze of the north covering your footsteps as you approached the activated traps you had laid hours ago. Your stomach rumbled lightly, threatening to expose your location to whatever you had caught and keeping you from eating for at least another 2 days.
As you climbed the ladder to the ruin’s second floor, the sound of metal clinking caught your ears. You paused, trying to locate the origin of the noise, but it seemed to be right where your traps were. If you were to reveal yourself and it was a knight, there was no way you wouldn’t get caught and questioned, so it was wiser to wait for the person to leave, unless they were the thing captured.
You wanted to have faith in the intelligence of other human beings, but it was getting really difficult to not think some idiot had fallen into the trap after 10 minutes of hearing them humming the same song.
The hunger overpowered you, and you finally took a glimpse of whatever the traps brought you.
Short hair, a spear on the ground, shoulder guard… Shit!
He looked unconscious, so you might be fine for a while, but most importantly— you just caught a Knight of Favonius and left him —literally— hanging for at least 30 minutes.
If he saw you, you’d definitely be interrogated for who knows how long, because everyone knows only crazy people go to the sanatorium in the middle of the night and— right now, you definitely look like you had escaped from a mental institution 500 years ago and were looking for a new body to inhabit.
But you had to choose, you either had to help him now and bear short term consequences, or let him die and be free another day. The second option did sound appealing, but that would be extremely reckless of you.
With your mind made up, you went to disable the trap and free whatever ranked knight you had imprisoned. You scanned the area, looking out for any other people that could be around and began untying him.
His cape was blocking some of your view, but you could clearly see the small details embroidered on his clothing. It looked expensive, maybe even too much to be any regular trainee you’ve seen before. His gloves looked nice too, but the item that intrigued you the most, was the Vision attached to the back of the neck.
Maybe it could fetch a good price in the underground market.
Your hand reached to touch the icy gem, but before you could put your fingers over it, you felt a firm grip on your wrist.
—Not even ensuring I was dead, huh?—
You jerked away immediately and covered your features to avoid being recognized, while also trying to figure out how he could still be conscious, or even alive.
The ropes snapped in front of you, letting the man land on the ground with ease, as if there were no bindings to begin with.
—Now what do you say? Should we get even, —He loaded the crossbow on his wrist, pointing directly at your face. — or should I kill you on the spot? — He smiles. —Your choice~ —
Out of all the possible knights, you just had to encounter the insane one. Great.
Keeping eye contact, you managed to get the upper hand using sweeping kick to destabilize him for a second and deflect the arrow, narrowly grazing by your hood as you escaped behind the wall behind him.
Why isn’t the poison working!?
You had perfected the recipe and tested it on anything that moved, even the damn Mitachulrs near Millhaven fell in less than 10 minutes! So WHY WASN’T IT WORKING NOW OF ALL MOMENTS.
The strong winds helped your escape, but it wasn’t as sneaky as you would’ve liked. Well, at least you couldn’t hear him anymore.
…
You couldn’t hear him anymore.
A pair of cold hands caught you, one grabbing you just below the neck, the other one holding a dagger, threatening to cut your jugular at the slightest move. You raised your hands, signaling to him that you gave up.
—Hm? No more attempts to run away?— You felt his breath right next to your ear, too close for comfort for anyone. —And to think I was starting to have fun~ —
Psycho.
—Mock me all you want, but we’ll see who laughs at last. — You looked down at the dagger and he followed, so you struck him with your elbow and disarmed him from the dagger, taking advantage of his stunned state to break a poison vial on his chest and step away.
It wouldn’t take long for him to start breathing in the gas, so you covered your nose and mouth to not die with him, but he didn’t seem to mind his imminent death.
He chuckled, stumbling before attempting to get up, and he looked at you. His blue and red eyes piercing through yours as his laugh grew louder, becoming almost maniacal.
—You think some weird chemical would be enough!? Don’t make me laugh!— He was panting slightly, struggling to walk towards you, but he didn’t care. —You’re a mere robber, you’re nothing!—
He’s really trying to fight the poison, isn’t he?
You took a few steps back, but he managed to collapse right before your feet.
A sigh of relief escaped from your lips as you checked if he was conscious or not, and, lucky you, he was actually unconscious this time.
Your eyes ran through the dagger you took from him. the top of it looked slightly corroded, maybe he never took care of it, or used it too many times to ambush people like you. Either way, a dead man wouldn’t be needing a dagger, so you put it away in your belt, just in case.
The poison gas dissipated after a while and the knight still didn’t wake up, so you were sure that he was dead this time. His skin was cold to the touch, and his reflexes weren’t working, so there was no way he could suddenly jump at you again.
Hopefully, this would mean the major threat of the area was gone, but now that you had killed one of their members, surely the Knights would investigate the whole perimeter around the sanatorium, and that meant, you had to move and become homeless again.
And to top it all off, you still didn’t get even a mere apple to eat.
A few weeks went by, and you had moved to the area near the Temple of the Falcon, closer to the city and closer to the caravans coming from Dornman Port, where all the good stuff from Snezhnaya came to you like moths to a lamp.
The adventurers around were careless, leaving their food untended for hours, or just not eating them because they didn’t like how it turned out or didn’t like it. Those kinds of people didn’t last in the wild, but at least you had a feast with the stuff they left behind.
You sometimes wandered by the outskirts of the city, gathering information for your possible next robbery, which usually involved incapacitating a few people just to get some booze. It was hard complain though, as Dawn Winery had really good wine in their unsupervised caravans, like the ones that were on their way to Dorman Port that same day.
Night fell upon the Whispering Woods as you followed the third and last cart, managing to sneak into the tent covering the boxes, using the stolen dagger to cut the ropes holding them together.
Carefully, you took the smallest box of loot and opened it, quickly realizing there wasn’t wine in there, but a small ticking toy. And suddenly, you couldn’t see or hear anymore.
You don’t know how much time went by, but when you finally came to your senses, your head and torso were stuck by a potato sack. There was murmuring all around you, but your ears couldn’t understand a thing. You had to rely on your other senses if you wanted to get out of there.
Your hands were tied behind your back with a rope, it was a different quality than those on the cart, so someone must’ve brought them from somewhere else.
The winds smelled humid and cold, with the grassy fragrance of the forest, but there was also the smell of burning wood and horse crap. You were still in the caravan, but now there were more people protecting it.
And finally, you tasted the powder on your face. Felt like eating cold burnt bread crumbs with gunpowder.
It was definitely planned. The quality of the rope meant at least some wealth, so they weren’t treasure hoarders trying to bring you back, but no wealthy person would kidnap a homeless drunkard thief, so the knights were probably called for this.
The humidity in the air was due to the caravan approaching the Cider Lake, but still far enough to the city to smell the apple trees of the woods.
And the powder was plain wheat flour. Meant to disorient you as you took the wine and mark you as the thief in case you ran away.
It was a simple strategy, but it had worked.
As frustrated as you were, you had to accept defeat and let yourself be dragged to whatever place they were taking you, or try your luck and end up behind bars.
After a while, your sight and ears began to clear up.
There were at least six people as guards, two as drivers and another one in front of you.
The potato sack was making it difficult to figure out their facial features, but you could feel a slight chill emanating from him, like the dagger you took from that knight the other day.
The crazy knight… Maybe they finally found his body? That would explain why there were so many knights for a mere thief, but that wouldn’t make sense, because you stopped using that kind of poison a while ago after moving to the woods. There was no way they had tied up two different crimes to the same person when there was no evidence anywhere.
Unless…
—Vice captain! Officer Heinz is waiting for you in his office.— A male voice came from the front of the cart, different from the voices you had already heard from the other knights.
—Tell him we’ll be there in five. — That voice… —I just have to speak to miss thief for a second.—
You felt the raggedy fabric being taken off of you roughly and, too close for comfort, the red and blue eyes you thought you would never see again.
—You…—
The same grin he had that night crept to his face as he took out your belt. —Should’ve checked my pulse before leaving me there— And then he took the dagger you had stolen. — And this, is mine, ___.—
No aliases, no nicknames. He knew your real name.
—Who are you talking about? That’s not even my alias.— You tried playing it off, but his grin didn’t falter.
—I’ll indulge you this time, —He slid out of the cart swiftly. —just because I have my own plans that I need you for. —He took off his cape and covered you with it as you stepped out of the cart.
Trying to look like a knight now that you’re in public, huh?
You rolled your eyes at him, but his facade didn’t falter.
He guided you to the inside of the Knights of Favonius headquarters. You still didn’t know what you were actually there for, but soon realized it wasn’t serious, as the two officers already had a drink in hand. One a lot more drunk than the other.
—Ah, Lohen! We thought you’d never come! Fancy a drink?—
—Good night officer, I’ll pass.—
—Alright, your loss!—
The other officer cleared his throat, re stacking the files of paper and asking the two of you to take a seat.
—I see that you’ve made quite the ruckus near the city gates, —He started reading. —Robbed many adventurers’ food, ambushed wine caravans, and even stole a knight’s weapon and fled the scene—
Phew, they didn’t get everything.
—Some say they saw you kill someone because they were breathing too loud!—
Jinxed it.
Before you could try to defend yourself, the crazy man by your side spoke. —Officer Heinz, permission to interrupt.—
— You already did, but alright…—
— If I may, I’d like to be her attorney on this occasion, seeing as none of the knights actually saw her committing the crimes listed, how can we be sure she’s such a merciless criminal?— He turned to you. — After all, she barely looks the part of a robber.—
Excuse me?
— We are not letting you fight her for no reason, vice captain Lohen.—
He shrugged. — It was just a suggestion, just to see what she’s capable of.— You took a short glimpse to his gaze, and it was filled with curiosity.
Heinz sighed. — But you’re right, there’s no evidence besides her being in that cart.—
The second officer interjected. — Maybe we should just keep her in check then? As the vice captain said, she barely looks like she could steal something.— All these people doubting your profession should really be looking at the mirror. They were drunk and dumb on the job!
— Fine, we’ll keep an eye on her then.— Heinz put away the mere sheet of paper they had about you and looked at your captor. — Lohen, could you take her to solitary confinement for tonight?—
— Gladly.— He made his way towards you, grabbing you by the arm and making you stand up and leave.
The place wasn’t too big, and they very obviously didn’t have the personnel to delegate tasks such as keeping guard to the whole building. Your eyes kept looking for a clear path to escape, but they didn’t even have windows to the outside.
A cold hand guided your gaze elsewhere, directly into the eyes of the knight that had ratted you out.
— Trying to escape already? We haven't even gotten to know each other yet.—
— I don’t need to know you, you’re a knight of Favonius and that’s all I need to know.—
— And you’re happy knowing only that?—
The way to the solitary confinement room felt infinitely long with that guy on your back. Luckily, he’d leave you alone after locking you up.
You heard the pair of shoes moving away from the door and started looking for ways to escape.
Crayons, gun powder, burnt coloring books, plushies… Who the hell did they have in this place?
Whatever. The light from the only window in the room was starting to dim, and there was no way they’d leave you by yourself the whole night, so your plan had to be perfect, or else they’d charge you for trying to escape too.
— Haven’t found anything? Maybe I overestimated you.— An icy shiver ran down your spine as you turned around to see the man talking to you.
— How did you get in here?—
— How do you know I’m even here? Maybe it’s all in your head, ___.— He approached as you took a step back, only stopped by a table you didn’t notice being there.
— Don’t try playing mind games with me. Isn’t this solitary confinement?—
— I came to see how you were doing, it wouldn’t be too knightly of me to leave a lady starving in the middle of the night.— He handed you an apple, an obviously fake smile on his lips.
The dim moonlight shone over the small fruit, revealing the unnatural color of its coating.
— Why don’t you eat it yourself? You sure look like you need it more than me.— You pushed the apple away back to its sender, who kept smiling at you.
He took a step back, letting you relax your posture a bit.
— I was just trying to be nice, don’t look at me like that.—
— Save your words for someone who believes them.—
He chuckled. — Fine, I get it. I won’t bother you in your jail cell.— , he said as he turned around to leave. — But we will be seeing each other again, so don’t bother running away from me.— He bit the apple as he left, leaving you more confused about him than you were before.
You checked the door and looked for more secret passages, as, if that guy could enter from other doors, you could escape from those as well. Hours went by, the sun rose, and you still couldn’t find an alternate entrance.
— It’s already morning and I didn’t manage to do shit in here, not even sleep!— You grunted and lied down on the rugs, trying to explain to yourself how did that man enter the room when there was literally no way you didn’t notice him.
Maybe he didn’t even leave in the first place!
It was a terrifying thought, yes, but it was the only thing that made sense. The thoughts threatened to spiral your mind away, but the noise of 3 knocks on the door kept you from it.
— I’m guessing you didn’t earn much sleep last night, did you?— The same knight messing up your sleep a few hours ago was there, flashing the same smile that tried to poison you.
You didn’t even stand up to look at him. He was annoying enough. — Is mocking prisoners something knights usually do?—
He chuckled, again. Was that the only thing he knew what to do or what?
— No, only I do that.—He crouched down. — Get up. We don’t wanna keep the grand master waiting, do we?—
You rolled your eyes at him, finally turning around to get up from the floor. Shifting back to the knight, you saw him still crouched down, and still looking at you.
What’s wrong with him, seriously?
— Do I have something or my face or what?— Your words seemed to bounce off of his ears, as he kept staring at your lips before standing up and finally talk again.
— Let’s get moving.— He left the room swiftly, not even turning around to make sure you were following him, but you were tired enough to know there was no way you were escaping like that.
The two of you arrived at the grand master’s office, and you took the opportunity to make some distance between you and the knight.
— Grand master Varka, here’s the help I told you about yesterday—
The blonde man in front of you looked you up and down, visibly frowning, but trying to be discreet about it.
— Not to discredit you Lohen, but are you sure this is the best choice we have?- I mean, not to sound rude to you but, you don’t look like an assassin.—
This again? You had to try to deflect the conversation, or else you’d be actually jailed. — Grand master, I——
But Lohen had other plans. — I had been tracking her for a few weeks,— He took out an earring out of his pocket. — she’s very sneaky.—
Wait… THAT’S MY EARRING.
You tried taking your jewelry back, but he raised his arm high enough so you wouldn’t.
— Oh, so you already knew her from before?—
— Absolutely!— He chuckled. — I’ve been keeping close tabs on her for a good while now.—
— That’s great then! We’ll give you a short test mission, just to see how the two of you can work out, I’ll go and ask Hertha to keep an eye on you.— The grand master lept away from his desk. — I won’t be gone for long, so don’t try to run away, alright? That goes for both of you.— He pointed at you for a brief moment and closed the door behind him.
You sighed, turning your head towards Lohen. — What did you get me into?—
— Oh, nothing. Just some knight stuff I can’t go and do on my own.— He took out the dagger he stole back from you, and started twirling it around as if it were a kid’s toy.
— Don’t you have a whole company under your name?—
— Of course not. I’m not captain. Plus, they are currently unavailable to help.—
— All of them?— You scoffed. How could a whole company just suddenly not be available?
But the look in his eyes could tell you the whole truth. — Yes. All of them.— There wasn’t a glimpse of sadness or remorse in him.
Did he poison his whole team for fun? Could I be next?
You just wanted to steal some booze, and now you were stuck with a damn lunatic to do archon-knows-what kind of illegal stuff in the name of the knights, or you would be going to jail in less than it took him to steal that pendant.
— …Are you even listening to me?— The second you snapped out of it, Lohen was right in front of you, his face close enough to feel his breath mix with yours.
The sudden action made you stumble back, gaining a chuckle out of your new partner.
— I think that’s a no.— He stepped back to lean on the desk. — But don’t worry, I’m not the kind of guy that miscommunicates so easily.— He sighed and then followed. — First of all, I’ll come clean. I did try to poison you last night, and I did steal your earring to prove a point.— He lowered his torso, doing a small bow. — I apologize for that.—
You put your hand on your forehead, unsurprised by his “revelation” .
—Of course you did.—You murmured to yourself. — But now we’re even, right? I’m going to help you with your job and i’ll leave.—
He immediately gazed up to you, still bowing. — “Even”? —He stood upright. — Do you really think we’re even on the same league?—
The sudden change startled you, but you kept your cool. —Well, yes. I won at the sanatorium the other night.—
He sneered. —You call that a win? You kept running away like a headless chicken and you have the nerve to think we’re equals?— He laughed shortly, pupils shrinking as he turned to see you. —You’re just vermin.— He stood in front of you, lowering his face to be at your level. —And I’ll have my fun seeing you squirm and beg for mercy under my boot, ___.—