An unexpected encounter. Theif meets the Black Rose.

Night and darkness was all that surrounded the city at that moment when a young and lovely lady got to the Mist City. This lady wasn't your usual lady, she was very noticeable by her style. She had business in the town. None knew of this business. She had been send there with a mission of her order a target but she was a few days ahead of her schedule so she had decided to go to the tavern and rent a room for the night and get a good meal before she had to do her task the next day.

As soon as she entered the tavern, most men in the place turned their heads toward her. She was used to the situation since it wasn't the first time it had happened to her. It happened every time she would spend the night in a tavern. She ignore the rude comments of some of the disgusting men in the place and went to the bartender and owner of the place. She was a lovely lady, but she had some age in her making little Arya the cutest and hottest girl in the place. She ordered a shot of whiskey and her room ignoring everyone except for the owner. Of course it was only small talk against most of the men, not all of them where disrespectful at that moment, sure they had looked at her when she came in, but at least had the decency not to be rude and do there own business.

Arya, after a few minutes, left the place and went to her room. Little that she knew that she might have an unwanted visitor... she lied down on the bed for a well needed rest.

Hunter a skilled thief and the town's best courier hears about someone called the 'Black Rose' is spending a night in a tavern nearby and decides to check it out. Upon entering the place the Bartender ushers him over "Ah! Hunter glad your here i need a package delivered within the hour i will pay twice the standard rate for this one." Tempted by the offer he takes the job and the Bartender hands him a package it needed to be delivered to a place nearby to it wasn't too far out of the way. Hunter takes the package and leaves quickly getting onto the rooftops and to the designated place. Upon reaching the place Hunter finds a note and leaves the package where he was told to leave it and takes the note back to show he had completed the job.

After getting payed for the job he finds out what room 'Black Rose' was staying in and takes his leave. after exiting he heads back onto the roof tops and running across them finds the window that was connected to the room and keeps an eye on it to see if the person staying there was awake or not.

In the room, Arya was almost sound asleep not fully because of what her profession is she had learn to always be aware of her surroundings even while she was sleeping she had taken off most of her clothing but had kept her weapons withing arms reach. She didn't trust most people except the members of her order having sworn to each other to never take any contract that would target one of them. The night was a bit chilly, but she didn't even bother covering up, resting on top of the blankets.

At times, she would wish she had the abilities she had heard her brother had, not having to drink eat or sleep but alas she didn't have them. Maybe once she found him she could learn those from him. She was unaware she was being watched but wasn't moving at all in the bed.

Hunter sees no movement in the room and heads to the roof of the Inn. After reaching the roof Hunter crawls down to the window and slowly opens it. He slowly moves in and closes the window silently and notices Arya on top of the covers nearly naked and he blushes a bit. He looks around the room and silently begins search for valuables. Unaware that Arya was aware he was there.

She felt something or someone come inside the room, a breeze of cooler air came to tickle her feet. Some kind of thief or another assassin was inside to rob or kill her or both, she stayed put, not moving an inch, studying the small noise coming from his slow and almost silent breathing. it was moving toward the chest that was in the room, where she had put most of her stuff. The individual had started to slowly open the chest by the time she decided to do something to stop him, not necessarily kill him but at least keep her things safe. In a flash she grabbed her whip that was lying under the pillow and in one swift moment, cracked it and it snap itself around his neck. In the same movement, she pulled backwards, pulling the person backwards and making him fall to the ground gasping for air.

She was far enough that she could easily dodge any projectile and was out of reach from about all close combat weapons so she was safe to do her own things, ask this person, a guy by the sounds of struggle. He wasn't too bad looking, it might save his life if he would answer truthfully her questions. She then started her questioning almost immediately.

Why have you come into my room? Answer me truthfully or you may not see the sun again.

She loosen a little the grip around his neck only enough to let him speak, but not enough for him to do much more

Hunter was coughing from being choked by the whip. When Arya released her grip a bit allowing hunter speak he breathes in heavily and turns his head to see Arya was holding him around the neck with a whip. Hunter's face went red again seeing her standing there in her undergarments and once he caught his breath he replied. "I came here to steal some stuff i wasn't here to harm you in any way." Hunter tries to get the whip off of his neck as he was speaking not having much luck in doing so.

She saw that he was trying to get out of the iron grip of her whip, fortunately for him she hadn't used the metal thorns that were inside her whip. each of them razor sharp. He seemed to tell the truth, but to be sure she didn't let her grip slip, she still had a few things to say.

This is probably not your lucky day then when you came in here. You look like you have experience, unfortunately for you, i also have experience in my field. Count yourself lucky that I didn't kill you on my first chance. If you leave this room empty handed, I might just let you leave.

The whip was still as tight around his neck as before, showing a lot of strength for her small body. Most of her upper body was now covered by her long hair.

Hunter continued to struggle with the whip. "Well that doesn't leave me alot of options." He thought about it for a while and decided it would be better to just leave he can always try again later."Alright i will leave....now will you release me!"

After a few instants of thought, she flickered her whip off of him. How she did so showed the expertise she had with the weapon which would probably scare most that would survive. His looks saved him for now but might not for the next time, if there was another time.

Now leave and never come back for this motive, next time you might not be so lucky.

She sat down on the bed watching him, taunting him to stay in the room and discuss with her. He seemed different than most men she had seen. He might be useful to her mission.

Hunter rubbed his neck since the whip had dug in a bit. "From what i can tell your trained to kill....im going to guess that makes you an assassin?" Hunter stood up and looks at Arya and blushes again. "you might want to sleep with more clothes on...there has been some reports of some rapes around here from people who literally act like Zombies and are just as hard to take down" Hunter was having a hard time taking his eyes off her from training and her looks

Arya was enjoying torturing him with her current attire. She noticed him blushing and keeping his eyes onto her figure, probably due to his nervousness of having an assassin in front of him, and because of her natural gifts. it was confirmed that he knew she was an assassin when he ask her if she was one. He warned her about the mysterious rapes by people that acts like zombies. She personally wasn't afraid, since she had contracts in the past that her targets were very large brutes and she was successful on each of them. She simply replied:

Thank you for your concern on my personal well being, i'm surprise that you would give such advise to someone who almost killed you mere moments ago. I wonder is there something that interested your sight this moment, or is it because of your profession that you can't keep your eyes off of me?

As she was saying this one of the straps of her top gently slid down her shoulder, revealing her elbow and now covering even less one of her breasts.

Zero's Face was still red trying hard to avoid looking at her more exposed breasts. "im only telling you since it helps in keeping you from killing me once i turn by back now if you will excuse me i will be taking my leave now." He moves slowly over to the window before opening it still keeping an eye on her and once the window was fully open he jumps out of the window and jumps up to the rooftops out of her reach he didn't go far diving into the shadows and moving to a nearby rooftop over watching the room

She was enjoying his struggle, he had a point it could help him in surviving the night. he was blushing so badly it was actually was cute to look at. he slowly moved toward the window, the way he originally came in through. He kept his eyes on her out of habit probably and took his leave when the window was opened again. In a quick jump from him, she was alone. She approached the window and looked outside like she was trying to find him but in reality she was making sure he was no where to be seen. She saw him in the shadows but didn't do anything other than close window and lock it up, something she probably should have done in the first place. She decided to slight leave the lock off, just to see what he would do, if he would com back to try again later or not. She was ready to snap her whip back around his neck if needed. The next day she had her job to complete and this thief looked like he possibly could help her in her assignment. She lied back down onto the bed, her whip at the ready. She was debating if she should use the thorns on him next time tried to steal from her.

Zero stayed in the shadows for a while but then decides to move on and hit some other target she was more skilled than he was at combat so he would never win in a fair fight

Throughout the night everything was quiet and Arya got some refreshing rest. Sunrise came and the warm sun rays tickled her eyes and she arrised and got ready for the day. She fixed her undergarments and took the straps off her top and put her corset back before putting her dress on. She hid her whip around her hip ready in case she needed it. After she was done with her preparations, she went downstairs to the lobby and sat down at the tables, the only one that was up this early was the owner who was also an excellent cook. He was a nice man, nothing like the men that were present in this very room the night before. She ordered a small meal that would probably fill her up all day. She was sitting alone in the tavern discussing with the owner of everything and nothing.

After the sun rose up Zero heads to his job and got a large packet of steak to deliver to the Hotel. He goes ahead and starts the delivery the large bag slowing him down a bit forcing him to take surface streets, but then again he knew enough shortcuts to get to the hotel fast. He gets there just before the owner severs Arya "Good morning sir i have a large packet of meat that you ordered." Zero removes the bag and sets it down for the Owner to take. "Ah thank you Zero here is your payment." The owner hands him an envelope with money in it. "How did the other job go?" "It went well just remember if you need a package delivered you know who to call." At that moment he notices Arya and give her a rather curious look.

She acted like nothing had happened the night before when the thief entered the tavern with a package for the owner. The thief didn't notice her at first but once he did, he had already been named by the owner. So his name was Zero and during the day he was just a messenger, a carrier of various packages. A good living for a man of his talent. She looked at Zero normally and casually introduced herself to him.

"Good morning sir, how are you this morning? Hope the neck isn't hurting too much. We haven't had the chance to actually introduce ourselves, my name is Arya, but '"m more known under the nickname of the Black Rose"

The owner probably was confused about the whole situation. When he heard the name of the Black Rose, a chill came down his spine. Her reputation was well known, but most that figured out who she was never told others of her location, in fear of being next in her victims. She asked zero:

"Zero, if that is your name, would you be so kind as to join me in this meal, i might have something of your interest and possibly more fun that your little escapades."

Zero nods and takes a seat. "Alright so your the infamous Black Rose the criminals talk about." Zero looks at the owner. "I will take the omelet with sweet tea." The owner was shaking from fear but nods and quickly heads to get Zero and Arya's meals and Zero goes back to facing Arya. "So what do you have planed?"

She was a little surprised that he had actually heard of her, but she didn't know how deep his knowledge of her reputation he actually knew. The shop owner was trembling like a leaf in an autumn breeze by this point, revealing that she knew a lot about her reputation. Arya never hinted her surprise to Zero.

"Before we talk about the plan, I must ask you something, how much of my reputation have you heard? I guess I want to know if you truly know what you possibly are going to throw yourself into by working with an individual of my domain of expertise."

She looked straight into his eyes and a spark of electricity crossed her eyes suddenly, she hated when she couldn't control the element that coursed through her body naturally from birth.

"I must also say that your show more promises than most man of your skill set. Which is why I offered you something of possible interest and seeing as you are sitting here, proves to me that you are interested in hearing me out, considering the events of last night."

By that point the owner was already in the kitchen, far enough not to listen in on their conversation. She was studying him secretly. He had good muscle tone at the right place, but she notice he wasn't bulky like most men in the town. He was quiet and fast enough for what she would use him in her mission. If he did the task correctly, she might just keep him alive. She had the tendency of killing her aids leaving in her wake only the sweet scent of roses and a single black rose in the hand of her targets, her victims.

Zero stays quiet until she asked how much he knew. He chuckles a bit to himself. "Enough to know that openly talking about it would get me killed." He leans back in the seat with his arms crossed. "The only reason I'm hearing you out...well it is because of last night. You just let me go which means you have bigger plans. Plans that someone in your position are too focused on to deal with a 'common thief'." He chuckles a bit more when he said common thief. "So we going to talk business or will i just need to go back to my transporting buisness?"

She giggled a bit at him calling himself a common thief. She had figured he was probably adept at being unseen usually. if it hadn't been for the cool breeze the last night, she might not have noticed him coming in. Another reason she slept so lightly dressed. To feel any and all breezes and changes of temperatures surrounding her. She smiled maliciously as she said.

Most of it will be explain on the way there since we will have the time to discuss the details on the road. In four days from today, the count Erandi will be hosting a party at his mansion, he is also my employer. His eldest son has start some very heretic behaviors and threatening his own father of taking his place as the head of the family. I am to end his eldest son's life and I was also told that his sons has a nice collections of gems from an inside source that would most likely give a good amount of wealth to whomever acquires them. That is where you might be interested in the trip. I have no interest in the gems or the wealth from them. They could be yours if you agree to help me.

She leaned in towards the table and interlocked her fingers together, waiting on his answer, but at the same time, giving him the time to think of the proposition

Zero leans back and thinks about it. "I have to say...Very tempting offer. But there's a catch to it. You specificly said it was Count Erandi. Everyone who is anyone knows him, and he is also known to theives as the untouchable stash. Not for security no no its possible to go in to claim stuff. Its the markings on his stuff that makes it impossible to get away with. So unless these Gems your offers are unmarked there isn't much reward in it for me." He leans forward and crosses his arms as he waits for an answer

He was right, the count did have all off his valuables marked and it made it pretty much untouchable to thieves. It kept his wealth intact since it was easy to find the missing items of his vault. The son wasn't as precautious as is father since of his fathers reputation with thieves, no thieves would be crazy enough to adventure into their mansion.

The gems are unmarked by the Count, his sons gems are unknown to him. Seeing as those gems were collected in the upmost secrecy by dealing with people from the city of Kuraz. His son, Sir Oropher think he is safe behind the walls of his fathers estate, knowing the time and effort his father has taken to make sure thieves aren't interested in stealing from their family ever again. Guards are still posted at the vault in the case some brave or stupid soul would attempt to get away with a part of the family wealth. So there is definitely a price for you to go after in this expedition.

She looked at him, trying to read his thoughts as he was thinking of the whole situation.
those gems were more valuable then the mansion inside of which they were located and any good thief and merchant would know the true value of those gems.

Zerul smirks. "Lets hope your information is true. If these gems are unmarked then it will defiantly be worth something." He stands up. "Where will be meeting? I need to finish one last job before heading out to this job you have for me." He looks at her waiting for an answer.

She listened to him and then decided it was best to meet him by the palace south gate.

The best location for us to meet would be by the southern Gate of the Palace in Parodan two hours after the sun is at its highest tomorrow. Stick to the shadows and look for the vantage point looking the the west, towards the count's mansion. Do not be late or it might not end well for you, but if you get there on time, maybe you'll get a bonus.

She had a devious look in her eyes, as if she had other plans for this thief after the whole execution of the plan. He still had no clue to whom her target was and if he knew, he might not consider helping her. It was rare that she needed help with a target, but considering the requirements her employer set, she was needing someone she could bride with wealth. Zero was the perfect candidate, she had issues detecting him when he had come to her room the previous night.