Brynjolf was drinking mead in the Ragged Flagon with Delvin, making plans to get their hands on a few Septims. The guild had their fair share of bad luck these past few years, but none of them was about to give up. They had to be bold and persistent if they wanted to keep running their business. They were deep in thought, planning where to do a bedlam job and who would do it, when Sapphire came thrashing around, apparently in a bad mood. Delvin rolled his eyes at her usual outburst.

"What is it, lass?" Brynjolf asked without looking up from the map in front of him.
"That damn woman! She just came by and request that I erase Shadr's depth since I was the one who stole his shit. I told her to piss off, but she wouldn't get out of my face! I'm so damn angry!" she said angrily, trashing more things around.
"What do you mean "you're the one who stole his shit"? Weren't you suppose to lend him some Septims for his shipment and collect with interest afterward?"
"I- I had no choice! Look at us! We're barely alive and... well, that's not important! What's important is that she threatened me and forced me to erase his debt. I didn't want the guards on my ass for starting a bar fight in the Bee and Barb… so I agreed. Damn, I'm so pissed!" she cursed.
"The curse... How much more bad luck can we suffer through until we all die out?" Delvin murmured, head low.
"Not that again, you stupid old man!" Sapphire yelled at him.
"Enough! It doesn't matter. We need to plan this; Mercer is waiting for us." Brynjolf interjected.

At Brynjolf's words, Sapphire shrugged and sat heavily on a stool by the bar, completely uninterested. Delvin lets out a sigh and got back to work. But that story had piqued Brynjolf's curiosity, a newcomer demanding things from a member of the Guild. Surely, she has to be cold-blooded to go and piss off Sapphire... Must intriguing.

The next morning Brynjolf was at the market, trying to sell some fake miraculous potions, sadly the townspeople were used to his scams, so it wasn't working very well. But the Thieves Guild was known for their perseverance. He would take the guild out of their hole, no matter what. That's when he saw her. A slender Nord with sun-kissed skin, blond hair like wheat-fields, golden eyes and a typical Nord's tattoo on her right cheek. She was gracefully walking from stall to stall, selling and buying some equipments. Most of her stuff seemed modest except for the longbow strapped to her back. He never saw something like that before, a bow made of bones, dragon's bones? He looked at the way she walked, not making a sound, the way her hands moved, fast and precise. She could make a fine thief. He decided to approach her, he knew she would probably turn him down since she forced Sapphire to erase Shadr's depth, but he could let a chance like this pass. Something about her was compelling.

"Running a little light in the pocket, lass?" he asked, a smug on his face.
"I'm sorry, what?" she questioned, looking a little confused.
"Your pockets... they are a little low in coins. I can tell." he continued.
"My wealth is none of your business!" she exclaimed, narrowing her eyes.
"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, lass. Wealth is my business... Maybe you'd like a taste."
"What do you have in mind?" she queried, curious but cautious.
"I got a bit of errand to perform, but I need an extra pair of hands. And in my line of work, extra hands are well-paid."

The truth was; he didn't need her to do this job, but he was curious to see her in action. He wanted to see if her quick fingers and her natural quiet feet would be as good as he imagined.

"What do I have to do? That's if I take the job." she asked.
"Right. Right. The job is quite simple..."

Brynjolf explained his plan to frame Brand-Shei. She didn't seem to like the idea, and she asked what was going on, but he wouldn't tell her, dismissing the question by saying it was the usual, that he must have pissed off the wrong people. But she seemed relive when he said they wouldn't kill him, just teach him a lesson and that the Black Elf would only sit in prison for a few days. Brynjolf could see she was torn, but she accepted nonetheless. He could say she needed the coins.

He was pleased to see the plan had worked without a hitch. He hardly saw her get behind Brand-Shei and slip up the ring in his pocket. He proposed her the challenge to get through the Ratway and to the Ragged Flagon. If she were to succeed, they could talk business there. She seemed hesitant at first, saying the money was nice but that she wasn't sure she would like doing that kind of job. Well, he was. She would be a perfect addition to their organization. He pushed a little, but in the end it was her choice. She was about to walk away when he reached for her arm.

"Wait, lass. What's your name?" he called.
"My name? Hum. It's Astanna." she answered softly.
"Astanna. Pretty. I'm Brynjolf. I really hope to see you again, at the Flagon..."
"Hum, right." she murmured.

He was looking deep into her golden eyes, thinking to himself that he never saw such color before. She blinked a few times before looking down.

"Could you let go of my arm?" she asked, shyly.
"Oh! Sorry!" he exclaimed, removing his hand.

The redhead didn't usually blushed, always in control of his emotions, but at that, he did. He didn't even realized he was still holding her forearm before she asked, he was just too enthralled by her golden eyes.

"Thanks. Well, I guess we'll see each other again, maybe." she said, walking away.

Drige and Vekel were saying that Brynjolf was kidding himself that there was no way Astanna could make it here in one piece. But she did. He sensed her presence in the shadows by the entrance and walked over to her.

"Well, well, color me impressed, lass..." he said wryly.
"Getting here was easy." she stated, emerging from the shadows.
"Reliable and headstrong... you seem quite the price."
"Tch." she snorted at him.
"I was honest. Anyway, now that you've had a taste of our little scheme at the market how about handling a few deadbeat for me?"
"So I'm an errand dog?" she asked, frowning.

Brynjolf laugh at her frown.

"Come on, it's only natural to test you and see if you have what it take to be one of us."
"What was it at the market, if it wasn't a test? It wasn't enough to tell?" she asked knowingly.
"It was. See it as our way to introduce you to the townspeople as one of our own, then."
"Tch. Alright. I'll do it... Still an errand dog's job, though." she complained.
"Thanks, lass. Let me know if you need more info about your marks."
"It should be fine."

She left as quietly as she arrived. Tonilia walked up to him, resting a hand to his shoulder.

"She's a feisty one. I like it."
"Aye. She is." he said looking at her back as she passed the door without a single glance back.

"It's done."

He recognized her voice right away, but he hadn't sense before she spoke. That was no small feat. He turned in her direction while she exited the shadows.

"Well, lass, time to meet the Guild Master."
"It's not you?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Nah. Mercer is. I'm his second-in-command." he explained.
"Right."
"What's wrong, lass?"
"Nothing. Let's get over with this."

Brynjolf introduced her to Mercer, and he never saw his Guild Master gave such chilly welcome as this. While she looked submissive, agreeing to follow the rules, her eyes and face were hard. He never thought golden eyes could be so cold; it surprised him a little. He gave her more info on her task, her eyes getting warm again, but she seemed bothered by something and he wondered what it was.

"Something bothering you, lass?"
"What?" he said, raising both eyebrows in surprise.
"You can tell me, is it the job?" he queried.
"No. It's nothing." she said, shrugging.
"Okay... well, before leaving, you should ask Vex what she knows about Goldenglow, she could give you some tips about the place." he proposed.
"Okay, I will."
"Maybe introducing yourself to the others, too. They are eager to meet you. Oh, and ask Tonilia for your armour." he continued.
"Hum. Okay." she said, turning her heels, heading to the Flagon.

Like he did at the market, he reached for her arm, stopping her. She turned around, looking him in the eyes.

"What?"
"Is it Mercer?" he murmured.
"What do you mean?" she asked, lowering her voice to match his.
"If it is, you can tell me, it's not like I'll go and rat you out. Everyone can have they own opinions. I won't think less of you or anything. You can tell me."

She looked deep into his eyes, like searching if he was telling the truth; if he could be trusted. He felt like she was looking into his very soul. She cast her eyes down and open her mouth like she wanted to say something but closed it before a sound could go out.

"You can tell me, Astanna." he said again, voice reassuring.

At the mention of her name, her head snaps back up, eyes wide. A few minutes got by before she finally talked.

"I don't trust him. I can't explain it... I just feel it in my gut. Something's wrong... I..." she said, averting her eyes.
"I see..." he murmured.
"That doesn't mean I won't follow his orders... It's just..." she quickly continued.
"It's alright, you don't have to explain. Thanks for telling me, though."
"Ah... right."

With that, he let go of her arm, but she didn't move, she was just looking at him with her golden eyes. After a while, she shrugged, looking over her shoulder.

"I should go talk to Vex, I guess..." she said softly.
"Okay. But please be careful while you're at Goldenglow, alright?"

Astanna had blinked a few times before she nodded, living him in the middle of the Citern. He didn't really knew why he told her to be careful; it was just something he felt he had to say. When he turned around, he saw Rune and Vipir looking at him with wry smiles. He walked up to them, nonchalantly.

"What?" he asked when he got near them.
"Oh. Nothing, nothing." Rune said, not able to restrain his laughter while Vipir was laughing his throat out.

Brynjolf sighed, he had a job to do and no time to deal with these jesters. He turned his back to them and started walking to the Flagon when he heard Vipir.

"Can't believe what I saw, Brynjolf going soft or something?"
"Shut up! Keep it down, he'll hear you." Rune exclaimed a little panicked.

Me going soft? Don't make me laugh. Brynjolf just kept on walking ignoring the two thieves, he could feel Mercer's eyes on him, and he couldn't show him any weaknesses.

The second-in-command was working on a heist job with Vex when he heard Astanna walking or more limping in his direction. She had a messy bandage on her left leg, blood spotting through it. He got up and quickly jogged to her.

"Astanna are you alright?!" he shouted
"Errh, yeah. Just got a few scratches. Still manage to complete the job, though." she whined.
"So I've heard. What happened to you?"

She let herself down in a chair nearby with a soft grunt.

"Everything was going fine. I manage to get in, got the papers in the safe and all, but when I put the hives in fire, a mercenary saw me and shot an arrow at me, got me pretty bad in a leg. But, whatever, I manage to get back after he got one of mine in the throat." she said with a grin that quickly turned into a grimace.
"We should treat this." Vex exhorted, looking at Astanna's leg from over his shoulder.
"Yeah, come with me, I'll tend to it." he said, helping her to get up.
"It's not so bad; I can do it." she whined, stubborn.
"Just come on, lass."
"You should jump on his offer, heard he's good with his hands." Vex added with a teasing grin on her lips.
"Errh, alright." Astanna answered with a grunt, letting her weight on Brynjolf, who helped her walk to the Citern.

The Nord held her by the waist and passed on of her arm around his shoulders. They were walking slowly, trying not to stumble on the slippery floor. When they got thought the door, Rune run over to them.

"What happened?" he asked, concerned.
"Arrow in the leg. Stupid mistake." Astanna grunted.
"Rune bring clean sheets, hot water, alcohol and something to stitches her up." Brynjolf requested.
"Right away, boss." he answered, running out.

Brynjolf let Astanna onto her bed with a low thud. The shock made her grit her tooth. He took off her impressive bow, arrow and hood. She let him undressed her until he reached for her pants.

"What are you doing?!" she exclaimed, eyes wide, grabbing his hands to stop him.
"I can treat your wound with them on." he explained softly.

She didn't say anything; she just let go of his hands. He looked up at her face, visibly showing her discomfort.

"Do you want to do it yourself?" he asked, wondering what to do to make her more comfortable.
"I... don't think I can do it by myself..." she admitted, looking down.
"Is it okay if I do it? Or maybe you would prefer Vex to do it?" he proposed.
"No... it's alright. Sorry, if I-"
"Don't worry about it." he cut her off.

Rune came running with the requested items, dropping them down on the bed.

"Do you need my help for something?" he queried.
"No, it's okay, thanks," he said, dismissing him. " Astanna, it may hurt a little when I pull your pants down." he warned.

Brynjolf grabbed the pot of water and poured some of it on her wound, hoping it would help hurt less since her blood had coagulated, and now her pants were stuck with the wound.

"Ok, I'll slide them down." he murmured softly.

When he pulled her pants down her wound open up again. She wince and bit her lip at the pain, roughly grabbing the sheets at her side. Brynjolf quickly put some pressure on the wound with the clean sheets Rune had brought. The bleeding stopped again after a while. He cleaned the cut with the alcohol and did stitches, closing it up, when he finished he made her a new bandage. She got trough the whole operation, not saying one word. At some point, he thought she had passed out, but when he was about to leave, she grabbed his hand. He looked down at her in surprise. She was looking at him with only one eye open.

"Thanks, Brynjolf." she let out painfully.
"No problem, lass. You should take some sleep. I have to go see Mercer, but I'll come back with food and mead later, alright?" he said soothingly.

She only hummed, already drifting asleep.

His meeting with Mercer took longer than he thought it would. The Guild Master seemed mad over the fact that Astanna had injured herself. Brynjolf felt weird, Mercer should have been happy that the mission was a success. After all, even Vex haven't been able to do it. And now Maven was requesting to meet with their newest member, it was promising, so he didn't get why he reacted the way he did.

The Nord grabbed two bowls of stew and two pints of mead and head to the Citern. When he got there, he saw Astanna sitting in her bed chatting happily with Rune and Sapphire, Niruin standing by the end of the bed. He hesitated to go over, but when he looked down at what he had in hand, he thought that she was surely hungry, so he decided to interrupt them. When he got closer, he heard her reciting her tale about the heist at Goldenglow. Niruin seemed impressed by her skills with a bow and Rune by her stealth. He was almost next to her when she looked up at him, a little smile by the corner of her lips.

"Hey lass, I see you're feeling better." he stated, wryly.
"Yeah, thanks to you." she said, grateful.

The three other thieves let them some privacy. Before leaving Rune told her, he would come back later, and she nod with a radiant smile. Brynjolf heart ache a little at the sight, but didn't say anything. He handed her the stew and mead, taking place in one of the chairs by her bed. She wolf down the food, and it made him laugh a little. She looked at him, a growing smile on her face.

"What is it?" he asked, wondering what she was thinking about.
"Nothing. I think it's the first time I hear you laugh, is all."
"Really?"
"Yeah, didn't know you could." she said teasingly, punching his right arm lightly.
"You're the one to talk; you always look so grumpy!" the teased at his turn.

She frowned at him which made him laugh aloud this time.

"Seriously, though, thanks again. If I had to take care of it be myself, it would have left a bigger scar. And I would probably have passed out a few times." she shyly admitted.
"Like I said, it's no problem, lass."

She was silent for a while before asking him about his meeting with the Guild Master. He told her about her future meeting with Maven, which meant well for her if she completed it without a hitch. He thought she would be pleased, but she simply looked down at her hands.

"Mercer was mad, was he?" she murmured.
"Hum. Why do you say that?" he asked, wondering how she could possibly know that.
"Rune told me he overheard him yell at you about bringing me into the Guild and saying I was up to the task, when clearly, I wasn't."
"And I told him, again, that you were. You did complete the mission and came back alive. That's all what we asks of our members."
"You really think I'm worth the guild time? I mean, I got hurt, and you had to-" she shyly started.
"Astanna... if I didn't think you were worth our time I wouldn't have asked you to help me at the market in the first place. And ever since then, I only been more and more pleased with you, don't to worry about it."
"Oh..." she let out.
"If the others thought you were some deadweight, they wouldn't be so fond of you."
"F-fond of me?!" she exclaimed, surprised.
"Aye, everybody seems impressed by your skills, and they are all more than willing to help you out, you only have to ask."
"Niruin did say he would like practice with me. I'm sure he can teach me a lot." she said, thinking about the previous conversation she had with the Wood Elf.
"Yeah, and from the others too. You should take advantage of all the knowledge surrounding you."
"You're right... and what can you teach me?" she smugly asked.
"Me? Hum..."

The question had taken him by surprise. It was rare the other members asked him to teach them anything, not because he wasn't good enough, after all he was one of the best. Probably because he was always busy?

"I don't know, lass, what would you like to learn from me?"
"Hum... I was thinking... and you can tell me if I overstep my bound, but I was wondering if we could go on a mission together and see, or you do things. Learn directly on the field or something..." she proposed, avoiding his eyes.

This question surprised him even more. A mission together? Sure, he wouldn't mind, after all he did want to see her in action, but the idea to be alone with her troubled him a little. He hadn't cared for anyone like he did for her in a long time... and the last time didn't have a happy end. He was torn.

"I- Aye, sure, but before, you need to get your strength back and do whatever Maven need of you... after that we'll see." he said.

Astanna gave him one of her radiant smiles, nodding. He felt his heart flushed at the sight. She never gave him that kind of smile before, and if he was honest with himself, he was jealous that Rube had. In fact, the other thief seemed really close to her since they had done a job together, calling her his partner in crime. He ruffled her hair and got up.

"I have to go. Take some more rest and when you feel good enough, head to the Bee and Barb, you should find Maven there." he ordered her.
"Will do. And Brynjolf, I look forward in working with you." she happily said.
"Aye, same for me, lass."