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You want me to WHAT?! (CrystalXMeki)
The evening was crisp with the beginnings of a winter chill causing Joane's breath to leave little smokey wisps in the air with each breath. Her lantern creaked slightly with each step as she prowled through the noble district. Rumors of a burglar and a few scattered reports of valuables going missing in the night had lead to the captain of the guard requesting her assistance with patrolling the area. As it neared midnight she was beginning to regret agreeing to help her old friend. Hadn't she found better things to do with her time than slip through alleyways keeping an eye out for what was undoubtedly the imagination of the paranoid.
She was just about ready to give up and return to the guard house to fill her belly with warm food when she saw movement in the shadows of a dark alley. Regardless of if there actually was a thief in the quarter, there was someone moving around that shouldn't have been. "HOLD THERE!" She barked out, her voice booming and echoing in the otherwise silent cobblestone streets. Just as the words left her a claxon of alarm bells started up from several streets over. |
He had been good long run of spending his nights climbing through windows and taking things from unsuspecting victims. His name was Trevor. He was brandishing a pair of black cat ears and a long tail swishing behind him. However, during the day these things disappeared.
He was stealthier at night and more quiet and cunning. He had been cursed since birth with a curse, that caused him to acquire cat parts at sundown. He stayed away from people during the night and nobody knew if his "ailment." He was currently trying to get through a window when he heard a noise. Normally he was able to hide in the shadows but there was a light coming forward and he had nowhere to run. He was cornered. He couldn't help but hiss like an alley cat though. |
Joane stormed into the alleyway, cursing profusely under breath at the silver she had just lost on a bet if there actually was anything out here, but paused at the hiss. She could clearly see the outline of a man, but the possibility of an animal helping them wasn't lost on her. With her sword in her hand her confidence returned. "I said HOLD." Her blade point found Trevor's throat and she growled softly.
The dancing fire light of her lantern made her falter. "An...actual cat burglar?" She had to stifle her giggle at the sheer silliness of it. Before he could find a way to worm away she snatched him up by the wrist. "This city gets stranger and stranger... damn wizards..." |
Trevor was literally in a corner. There was a brick wall behind him, the alleyway ending right at a brick wall, so with the guard approaching, he literally had nowhere to run. Not that he didn't try to run past her with her bewilderment at him being an actual cat boy. He was wearing a black pair of trousers, and a shirt but no shoes. Shoes kept him from gaining traction on certain surfaces.
As he tried to run past her, he was met with some resistance and he faulted and flailed to try and get away. "Lemme go wench!" he hissed again. "I did nothin'." |
Any sense of wonder Joane had about the actual cat man snapped from her mind the moment he tried to run. Running was without a doubt the closest thing he could have done to an open admission of guilt in her mind. She used his momentum to yank his wrist up to the middle of his back, forcing his shoulder into an awkward position. "Walk." She demanded and pushed him forward. "I assume you know where the North guardhouse is. Keep your mind on your feet or you will fall. I don't intend to kill you unless you attempt to run."
She sheathed her sword with her free hand in favor of digging through her pouch to find a small clay ball. A hard throw onto the ground activated the spell inside and sent colorful sparks shooting up into the air where they stayed, flashing to call attention to their location. "Think that stealing is easier than working, I suppose?" |
Trevor growled when his hand was wrenched up behind him and held there firm. "I did nothing! Search me I have nothing on me!" Which was true. To a point. Sure he had a lock picking kit but he had nothing stolen on him. Nothing of value.
When she activated the magic beacon he flinched and ground his teeth silently. He was usually very careful not to get caught and now some woman guard had captured him and was going to send him go jail. His ears were laid flat to his head to show his anger. |
Joane didn't loosen her hold on him for even a moment despite his squirming around. She had no qualms about delivering him into the hands of the guard captain. He could howl whatever protests he liked to the guard watching over his cell. Once they reached the guard station she called out for the captain. Captain Cooper was a swarthy man with shoulders twice as broad as Trevor was. "My debt to you is paid, Coop." The knight snapped as she shoved the feline into his grip. "He was coming out of Lord Brighton's window. He says he didn't take anything, but I'll leave it up to your people to find out what he was supposedly doing there."
She leaned against the bars of his cell as he was searched and let out an ugly laugh when they found the lock picks. "I suppose those are for cleaning your teeth then?" She asked with a roll of her eyes. "Right... I don't suppose Brighton will be vouching for you." |
Trevor was unceremoniously thrust into the arms of another guard and carried away. It wasn't long before he found himself in a damp, dirty cage. What they referred to as a "Cell". He felt hands pawing at all of his pockets and turning out his lock pick set. "They are used by locksmiths too, ya stupid bitch." he hissed out. "I could be an apprentice for all YOU know. You have nothing else on me.You can't keep me here just because I came from a window and had nothing stolen on my person."
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"As soon as the courier arrives with the statement from Lord Brighton they will have good reason to hold you." Joane pointed out. "And since you tried to run and resisted when I called for you to halt, that's a very good reason for suspicion." She raised a brow at his squalling. "You're not really making a very good case for yourself at the moment either. Frantically demanding that you've done nothing wrong instead of simply stating what you WERE doing in someone else's window is, to be honest, rather damning."
The guard captain waved his hand at her. "Lady Joane, as you stated, your debt to me is paid. You are welcome to leave if you please." |
Trevor just sat there, a low growl in his throat as his tail swished behind him in irritation and his ears were flat against his head. "So what will ya do with me then? Keep me here until I rot?" he asked through clenched teeth. "Just bread and water for my meals." he continued. "At least it's food," he muttered to himself.
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"That's up to the Lord Justiciar." Joane shrugged at his impetuousness. "If Lord Brighton claims you have stolen or harmed something in his house you might be strung up tomorrow or taken down to a labor camp along the Southern border." She clicked her tongue against her teeth. "You made a bad decision, now you have to live with the consequences of that."
She watched impassively as the courier handed a missive over to Cooper. The guard captain read it over a few times before he shook his head. "This can't be right... Lord Brighton says he bought this "oddity" at auction as a gift for the king..." |
Trevor's head snapped up. What? That was a lie but if it got him out of the cell, he'd go along with it. "Shore, I was just getting some fresh air..." he said "Us cat boys love to climb out windows...I just had the lockpicks because...as I said, locksmith...apprentice." he got out finally. "So you can jes unlock this lil cage and send me off to whomever." he said.
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Cooper handed the missive over to Joane and she scowled at the message. "It says here that I am to deliver you to his Majesty and oversee your training." Her jaw clenched as she spoke, her words getting tighter. "We'll see.. oh and also if you attempt to escape I am to kill you and bring your hide to Lord Brighton." The corner of her mouth turned up a bit at that. "I knew I should have taken a squire and left on some kind of adventure this season... instead I get to skin a cat."
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Trevor heard the words "training" and his ears flickered. "Training? Fer what?" he asked. "I ain't gonna be no house cat. Or some rulers' plaything."He balked at that notion. He wasn't about to be a kept pet, even since he wasn't always a cat boy...only at night. "wha exactly does that paper say about me being 'trained'? he asked.
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"It simply says I am to deliver you to His Majesty and oversee your training. I assume His Majesty will give me further instructions." The knight's eyes narrowed. "You don't exactly get a lot of choice in the matter, do you? Would you prefer to stay here in your jail cell?" She nodded to Cooper and he unlocked the cell. "I hope you understand, I will actually kill you if you try to run."
She pocketed his lock picking set. "You won't be needing this. I'll just hold onto it until your "locksmith" master can come pick them up. You probably barely know how to use them anyway." |
Trevor didn't like being insulted that he didn't know how to pick a lock. He had unlocked many doors and stole a lot of stuff that she didn't know about. Of course, there were only a few places he can sell them back to, and pay was a bit shitty but money was money and it paid for meals. Maybe this gig at Kingdom wasn't that bad. Hopefully, it included meals. "Fine....let's go already. I'm sure you're eager to get me wherever it is I need ta go."
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Joane headed out the door without acknowledging him again. She checked every few moments to make sure he hadn't tried to sneak off as they made their way toward the castle in the pre-dawn twilight. Several of the guards bowed their heads slightly to her as they got closer to the gates. Only a few questioned his presence and each time she quickly explained him away as an errand she was running for another noble.
When they reached the royal quarters she knelt down in front of the most powerful man in the kingdom. He was middle aged, grey streaks beginning to find their way into his coal hair. His eyes were a stormy grey and in the flickering light from his fireplace they absorbed the flashes of orange and red. "I assume you're the "gift" from Brighton?" He addressed Trevor directly. "I don't believe this plan is a good one, but I am willing to give it a try." |
As he was being escorted, he noticed that the night was waning and that he would soon be losing his cat parts. He heaved a sigh and stood there as he was led to the throne room. He watched the man who 'owned' him now and he watched as his captor knelt before the King. He wasn't obligated to do the same but he figured if he didn't do something, lady guard would make him genuflect anyway. He just inclined his head slightly.
As they talked, he noticed that it was becoming dawn, and with the rising of the sun, his hair faded to a paler color and his ears and tail disappeared. He stood there now just in his black outfit, and bare feet. "Well I'm not sure what plans you have for me.....sir," he forced out. "But whatever it is, I'm only a cat boy at night. Not sure what your fetishes are, but hopefully the cat parts aren't required..." |
Joane cursed under her breath at his impertinence and clamped her hand on the back of his neck, forcing him to his knees. "If you wish to keep your foolish head, you would be wise to watch your tongue and mind your manners." She hissed at him.
The king's expression didn't change, but his words seemed to take a bit longer to come to him. "I need an assassin and thief to work for the crown. Off the record, unbeknownst to anyone other than a small circle of my advisors. You will serve in this capacity and if you fail, you will die. Painfully." If his sudden change bothered the monarch he made no sign of it. "Your training will fall to Joane. I understand she was an unsavory character before her father claimed her from her mother." The knight looked away, clearly ashamed of her past. |
He wasn't surprised when he was forced to his knees forcibly. He remained there listening to the King tell him what he wanted of him. " Okay so you are hiring me for my skills....that I was arrested for?" he asked slowly trying to piece the situation together, trying not to say something that would offend. He then realized he heard the word assassin and stared at him like he grew a second head. "Wait, you want me to kill people for you?" Now it was all coming together.
He slumped back onto his legs and muttered quietly as the King talked to the guard who brought him here. Apparently, she was going to train him and he knew she wouldn't be happy about it. |
"You're a common criminal and you want to try to pretend you balk at harming others?" The king's voice was harsh. "Prison or the gallows are still options if you suddenly want to pretend to be a model citizen." He waved his hand in dismissal. "You have a fortnight to decide and begin your training, if at the end of that time you haven't showed any progress and have found your allegiances, we will rethink this arrangement."
Joane's hand found the back of his neck again and she dragged him forcibly from the room. "I feel it would be quicker to just kill you now. Do you actually have qualms about killing people?" She shook her head in surprise. |
As he was dragged off again "Hey now...I was just stealing from people....taking their stuff to sell for money. A boys gotta eat ya know." he said. He didn't bother to struggle, just be led wherever. "I never once thought about killing people..." he huffed. "I can be a thief and not have a desire to kill someone."
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Joane pulled him into a small side room. "Did it never occur to you that other people could be blamed for your theft? Servants flogged, maids turned out onto the street? You act as though your actions have no consequences. Don't act like stealing to eat is a required act. You could have found honest work, you chose not to," she snapped angrily. It took her a moment to get her anger back under control but when she did she pointed down the hallway. "To the knight's quarters. Down by the stables. You'll sleep on the floor in my room."
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Of course, as young as he was he never knew that his actions had such dire consequences. "What kind of work could someone like me find? I'm a little freak that has to hide from people at night because of cat parts coming out of my body. Not exactly something you want people to see, but guess the 'cat's out of the bag' now." he said. "I've been living on my own for as long as I can remember. Nobody even batted an eyelash concerning me. Don't you think I tried working somewhere? to be an assistant somewhere but they really don't' like you disappearing at night."
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"Most shops aren't open at night. Bakers, blacksmiths, furniture makers, they're not working at night. They wouldn't question you leaving just before dark." She shook her head. "You just took the easiest route without even thinking about other people. Don't try to play poor me, you're just another selfish creature that cares only about your own skin. If you can learn to keep your mouth shut you might make a good King's Thief and Assassin, because not caring for other people is an important trait for such a position." She opened the door to her room. It was clean but undecorated. She looked as though she was rarely here.
"Your training starts an hour before nightfall. You'll train physically until the sun rises, then you will have education until midday, then you will be allowed to sleep. Do you know how to read?" Her irritation with him was thinly veiled. |
Trevor growled as he was led into her quarters. "Quaint," he said looking around the room. He knew that they wouldn't get along. She thought he was a freeloader and he was only trying to survive. If the situations were reversed...
"Vaguely," he said when he was asked if he knew how to read. "I didn't get much of a chance to read in my current situation but I know the basics," he said. "And I know numbers too. Aren't I a smart cat boy." he snerked. |
"Oh wipe the sneer off your face. Quit acting so high and mighty. You belong in a prison cell, you should be thankful you're not hanging from the gallows or having a hand chopped off." She pointed to a corner of the room. "You can rest there. There should be some furs and a blanket in the chest at the foot of the bed." She was already getting a headache from the entitled cat boy.
"You'll be well educated by the time I am finished with you. A good thief knows how to read the world around him. A good assassin knows history and people." |
He went to the corner without the furs. He was used to sleeping without warm things to wrap up into, and he didn't want to get used to it now. He figured he'd fail this little task of killing people and get kicked out or killed anyway.
He settled in the corner and just rested against the wall. "Sweet Dreams." he cooed as he faced the wall and just stared there for a while. |
Joane watched the strange man with a frown on her face. She had been in a military setting for so long that she wasn't used to dealing with flippant individuals that disregarded authority. She sat on her bed and leaned up against the wall. Her eyes half closed as she let herself fall into a meditative state. When her father had finally claimed her she thought she was done with the shadowed path. No more theft, no more assassinations, she would face her enemies head on... but if her king demanded, she would obey.
Evening fell far sooner than she was prepared to deal with Trevor again. She nudged him gently with her food. "One of the kitchen servants is bringing some food. There is a room for bathing at the end of this corridor." She dug through her clothes chest and found some of her old training clothing. "These will do until we see if you'll be around long enough to need some clothes of your own. |
Trevor didn't really sleep at all. He lay there against the wall for hours, curled in on himself. He wasn't calculating ways of escaping, he was smarter than that. Instead, he just reflected on his past. How he ended up in this situation, to begin with. So much in his life went wrong, starting with the day he was cursed. This woman didn't understand him as much as he didn't understand her.
When he was nudged, he got to his feet without a word and just went where instructed. Food...the smells from the kitchen had been nagging at his stomach for hours before she woke him. he tried to ignore the hunger pangs as he usually did but this time he was given food willingly. The notion of getting a bath too, that really shocked him. But then again he figured nobody wanted to work with a smelly individual so he took the clothing given to him and headed down the corridor as instructed and went into the bathing room. |
In the center of the room was a large stone lined pool with steaming hot water. It seemed to be constantly fed by a series of pipes coming from the wall. There was another individual, a man with his back to Trevor, already soaking in the tub. Along the walls there were hooks for clothing and short stools to sit on while scrubbing or drying oneself. Buckets were provided so hot water could be dipped from the pool for quick bathing or to clean oneself before getting into the tub. A youth, not yet even in his teens, hopped up from a chair when Trevor entered. "Oh...uh.." he looked uncertain. He wasn't entirely sure that he belonged here. "Um... this is the Knights and Officer's bath...sir..."
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He eyed the others in the room and when he was approached and talked to, he blinked. "Oh, uh the female guard who brought me here and who is in charge of me told me to come and bathe. Joane, I think her name is," he said as he looked around the room. "Am I permitted to bathe here or not?" he asked tilting his head. He assumed this youth was like a bath boy. Someone that would do the scrubbing and keep things stocked up, such as towels, soap, etc. "If not I can just go back to the room and tell her that you kicked me out..." he said nonchalantly.
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The man in the tub let out a laugh when he heard the exchange. "It would do you well to not let Joane hear you call her a guard. She is a knight of the realm, and fought hard for the title." He snickered and waved his hand. "Arnof, let the boy bathe. Joane will have his head if he comes back to her filthy."
The bath boy nodded and flushed a bit. "My apologies, now that I know who you are in the service of, I will not bother you again." He bowed his head slightly and pointed to an alcove. "There are soaps and scrubbing sands there, along with cloths if you need them." He sort of faded back into the background again while the man in the tub looked over his shoulder at him. He was blonde and grinning, with a scar running from his left eye all the way across to his right cheek. "You must be the thief. Word got around quickly that you're a bastard of some cousin of her majesty and Joane's expected to civilise you." |
Trevor twitched internally as he was spoken about as a bastard. "I wouldn't know anything about my paternity, I just exist. And apparently, I exist to be an assassin now." he said. He shrugged at the blond male and moved to the other end of the tub and stripped down. He grabbed some soap and laid a towel nearby and just sunk into the tub.
He wasn't afraid of warm water that he could touch bottom on, but he wasn't a fan of cold water such as lakes. Large rivers didn't do much for him either. He usually avoided bathing since those were his two options being homeless. He sunk down into the water up to his chin and sat there a moment with his eyes closed. He heaved a content sigh of pleasure, from the hot water all around his dirty body. |
The man's eyebrows shot up when he mentioned the word assassin. "If..." he dropped his voice down lower. "That is true, you might not want to be throwing it around so freely. Assassins with no discretion tend to find themselves in the coffin rather quickly." He shook his head and slipped out of the water. Arnof handed him a towel and he wrapped it around his hips before leaving the room without even getting dressed.
The bath boy sighed softly. "Um... you see... normally one would wash their body before getting into the water, so you don't sully it completely. Many use this tub..." |
He opened his eyes "of course there has to be a "process" to all this." he said and slipped out. "I guess I contaminated the water with all my filth eh?" he said a bit bitterly. "So how does one 'bathe' here then," he asked.
He sat down next to the bath boy and let him explain the whole process of how to bathe here in the bathing room. |
Arnof seemed horrified at the thought of having to teach a grown man how to bathe, but patiently explained that one usually soaped their body off and used scrubbing sand if they had a lot of heavy dirt on them like he did, and then they would rise it off with the buckets. He pointed to drains in the floor and explained that the pipes went under the castle to the sewers. "Then once you're clean you get into the water. That way the tub stays cleaner and you're not just soaking in your own filth."
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"Forgive me, but when your only bathing options are rivers or lakes, you don't really get clean unless it rains..." he said "But here." he said taking a bucket of water and getting the excess dirt off with the sand and then soaping up with the water from the bucket before he turned over the bucket on himself and then rinsed off.
"Is this appropriate?" he asked Arnof. "I'll try to remember to clean off before I get into the bath," he said. He waited to get the go-ahead before he went back into the tub. |
Arnof gave him a hesitant nod and then went back to his chair. "You should probably hurry though, didn't you say that Lady Joane is waiting for you?" He looked around a little nervously. "She can be a bear when angered. She made em scrub all four bath houses with a helm shining brush once because we threw a bucket of icy water over her and Lord Ermi once." He chuckled. "Was worth it though..."
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Trevor huffed and finished cleaning up at much to his dismay. He got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around his waist. He got dry with the fluffy, and slightly scratchy towel. He handed it off to Arnof and got into the clothing that was handed to him when he headed out of the room.
The clothing was a bit loose but that was to be expected. Most of the clothing he acquired during his life was always too big for him because he was skinny. He gave half-hearted thanks to Arnof and then left the bathing room. He headed back to Joane's quarters and saw that there was food on a tray, on the table and all fibers in his being screamed to him to just lunge at the food and devour it. He had to exercise restraint, lest he'd get yelled at for it later. The food did smell heavenly though. |
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