Rookridge was never the most exiting place for me and was just as boring as the barren wastelands of Albion to my mind. It was almost like some form of prison to me, like a cell that was made up of Hobbes and trees. Yet, I wasn't just like any regular Albion citizen, I was an aristocrat. Circles of riches and things being served to me was something that was regular to me and I found it interesting that others didn't have such services, but after a while, I began to realize the divide of the classes. I began to see what the people who were in my class were doing to those of the classes below, and instead of finding it amusing, I was genuinely disgusted and horrified. Beatings, being forced into service with no pay, being shot on whim and everything else you could imagine an authority figure could enforce upon someone weaker than them. They almost acted like corrupt adults disciplining a child and it was frightening to me. Yet being an aristocrat, speaking up about it was frowned upon, other richer aristocrats threatening to take away my title, and yet, although it wasn't a big threat to me I still kept my voice down as I did not want to disappoint my cut throat parents. Also, having a name such as 'Anastasia Wellstone' would not quite fit into the lower class and I wasn't sure how I'd live.
I turned down every party I could for months, especially those held in mansions within the newer quarters of Albion like Millfields and Bowerstone because I knew the most pompous people came from there (even although I'd never met anyone from there due to shutting myself in) and this furthermore made my parents angry. I did indeed live with them, but that was only because I was not married. I turned down every single engagement that was given to me and I turned away from anyone who thought they were any better than me. I knew that some of the best people were those who turned their backs to authority, yet, that was those who could usually be shot without being missed.
After blending into the background and my name becoming somewhat into obscurity I decided to start taking my own life into consideration. I began dressing different, bringing down my fancy way of speech and starting to go outside more on my own in the Rookridge country side. I cast away my dresses, threw off my heeled boots and began to use slang from the working class Albion society. For a while, I tried to hide it from my parents but soon enough the fact that they were going to find out someday no matter what I did occurred to me so I took the huge step to just tell them to their faces that I was from then on refusing the aristocratic lifestyle.
Of course, like any cut throat aristocratic parents, they shunned me and called me words such as disgusting and vile, words I'd heard them call our servants funnily enough, and they told me I had to be out of the home by the end of the week, and that's when I knew that it was time for my life, the life I wanted, to begin. Without permission, I sold every dress and corset I had and I made quite a good sum of gold before swapping in some boots for some leather leggings, a men's black shirt and an oversize green jacket and some knee high boots that sort of fitted me, and with a sword I'd acquired from a shop in town, I was pretty much ready to leave my home.
I knew that what the other aristocrats were doing was wrong. Servants, although a lower class, are still Human just like them and have thoughts and feelings like any other person, but of course they did not see that, they almost saw them as animals instead. Now that I think, perhaps I could've used my title and wealth to save some, but I would've been shot down by either the monarch or some insane tycoon or something of those sorts, so I knew leaving my title and circles would be the best guess for me.
Although I did not go into the open world blind, I did my fair share of re-search shall I call it. When I was out wandering in the woods of Rookridge, I was almost attacked by a group of around 30 men who wanted to shoot me down for of course being an aristocrat, but somehow they listened to my plan and decided not to kill me, but instead to 'employ' me. I found out that they weren't just any random group of men, they were an infamous Albion gang, knew for being ruthless and a huge step in the opposition against the aristocratic ways, 'The Rooks'.
Although their name was simple, their tactics were not. The whole group had lots of people of lots of different skills. Sharp shooters, fast runners, thiefs and many things more that could come in handy, and my apparently 'attractive' appearance would help them get into different mansions and parties and such to cause wreckage. They said also that my ability to read and write properly could help them forge things, and in return, they'd give me shares of the gold, shelter and a proper title in the Albion gang circles. Of course I accepted.
I soon came to find that 'The Rooks' were not the only gang in Albion. There was 'Stones', 'The Ship Steamers', the 'I.B.D' and many more, but those other three were the most powerful.
The 'Stones' were if course based in Bowerstone and they had a huge supply of weapons due to an underground market hidden from authority eyes underneath the very streets of Bowerstone and sometimes they even used the tunnels for meetings and to get to other parts in the city fast, and by Avo, it worked.
'The Ship Steamers' functioned mainly in the seas of Albion, mostly around the shore lines of Bloodstone, apparently descended from an old pirate from there whom lived in the mansion at the top of the hill and they were all extremely smart and fast men. They could take down ships in minutes and they said it was thanks to their old 'Master', whomever he is, and they were all experienced swords men, leaving no-one alive when in battle.
The 'I.B.D' was a group that was possibly the most risky, and yet the most skilled and most needed. "I.B.D' stood for 'Industry by day', which of course meant that they were all industrial workers from the infamous Bowerstone Industrial. They all casually worked there during the days, but at night they would scope out the cities, get weapons, get gold, get recruits and even kill off famous figures, they were an inspiration and the guards of Albion could not find them. How they were not found was actually amazing, but it made them much more mysterious as they were very secretive indeed. They only spoke to me at least 3 or 4 times, just getting to know me and accepting that I was helpful before going away to do their jobs.
Altogether, including even more gangs, there was over 2000 of us.
We'd meet every few days to check back in with each other and things seemed to go well until there was an amount of hushed speaking between the gang leaders, and all of us knew that this meant they were planning something big, like a huge heist or an attack of a public figure, but they were being so secretive about it to the point where they offered to give us all new guns to not ask them anything about it, and being thugs of our own kind we took those guns and kept silent about the suspicious behavior.
A few more weeks went by, my living quarters changing from random inns to now having to live in the tunnels underneath Bowerstone I was left to train myself. I became skilled with a sword and was even good and hand to hand combat, but being the one of the only females in the whole gang circle, I was left to do so much dirty work. I hate to admit it, but sometimes I'd have to flash my legs to distract a shop keeper or something absurd so the boys could swoop in and take their steal or something more horrible I'd rather not discuss, but I always had to remind myself why I was doing it, for the cause of the lower class.
Every third week, we'd go to places like Bowerstone Industrial to give out a set amount of gold to the very poor so they could at least eat for a week or so. Even although we had more money we could've dished out, we knew we had to keep it back for ourselves so we wouldn't starve to death for indeed we had to feed around 2000 of us, and none of us were a liability as we were all specially chosen.
I felt bad having to tell the families in those states that I couldn't give them anything else, but maybe the next time we came. Although it hurt me, it was things like that which reminded me what I was doing this for.
After another few weeks, finally all of the head gang leaders came to me and told me they wanted to speak with me alone, so I went with them to a closed off area of the tunnel system where they sat me down to propose something to me. They said that they'd watched me closely and that they knew I was skilled, perhaps skilled enough to be trained a hero and that my old title could come in handy. I knew it would have something to do with an aristocrat, but what they said sent chills down my spine. They said if I liked it or not I was going to have to pretend to be Anastasia Wellstone, the young aristocrat and not Ana, the Rookridge ruffian. They said they had a very specific target located in Millfields, a place I'd never been due to avoiding parties held there.
They told me the target was called 'Reaver' and was the man who controlled all of Bowerstone Industrial and was an adviser to the monarch and straight away my hatred for this man came over me without even meeting him. Anyone responsible for the killings of hundreds, no, thousands of workers was worth nothing to me apart from one bullet to the head. They said they weren't using me for my looks, as he was bisexual so thus they could use anyone, but for my past knowledge of how aristocrats act and such. It was a scary thing to ask me to do, but they wouldn't dare put me into his hands blindly, they were smart to always plan things.
They said he had a party happened on the weekend coming and that I was to find him, get close to him and to stab him in the head. I wondered why I couldn't just stab him in the abdomen or heart and leave, but they said to me that he wasn't just any man, but a Hero of Albion from many years before and that like any Hero he could survive things such as that so I had to shut down the power house to kill him completely. I accepted this, but a warning was also issued. Reaver was apparently never alone, and had a companion with him from time to time, a maid. She was apparently as sweet as could be and had even been asked to join the Albion gangs, but she turned it down to work for this 'Reaver'. I was informed that she had the powers to see the future and that she was very sharp when it came to combat, but she wasn't too much of a threat when it came to it as her visions were blurry and I immediately imagined her to be very intimidating, which scared me a lot. They just wanted me to know that he wasn't going to be alone when it came to combat and that it was truly a real search and destroy mission. They said after he was gone, thousands of lives would be saved, and I was ready to do that.
I spent the rest of the week training my knife skills and my hand to hand skills. Throwing knifes, stabbing dummies and anything else I could think of that would get me quick at the job, and when the weekend came, I felt confident.
I was issued a pure black aristocratic dress, my first in about a year, and I was helped to put it on by a clothes shop owner whom was in on the gang activity and she even gave me a golden face mask, a fan and black gloves so I would blend in perfectly, and when I looked myself in the mirror after putting it all on, nothing but a sigh escaped my lips as I saw myself as I was before.
It was almost disgusting.
As I was in a carriage going to the mansion, I felt my blade press up against my thigh as it lay under my dress, secured by a strap meant for horses as the warm looking mansion on the hill loomed. I'd never been in these parts before, so I thought it was going to all be cold and barren, but in fact it was very warm looking indeed, a bright orange glow emitting from the huge establishment as music played from within, and just in front of the gates I stepped down from the carriage and went into the crowds of hundreds of other party goers, all aristocrats in masks.
There was a large statue to the apparent owner outside just by a small pond, and I must've stopped and stared at it for a good minute because I recall a women approaching me and saying:
"You gazing at Master Reaver? He's some looker, ain't he? He's so handsome I could faint!"
It was right then and there I felt my challenge to murder him was going to be harder than I could've ever imagined as it was obvious that he wasn't just any aristocrat, he had some amount of power not only over industry, but over others. I knew all eyes would be on him at all times, but the fact that everyone was wearing a mask could somehow help me I knew, but I just had to make a fast escape so I wore my usual gear underneath the dress so I could leave it and run and fight as usual if things went badly.
Entering the mansions interior, my whole body seized up as the image of hundreds of people standing around, crowding the foyer came to be and I thought of leaving my part in this plan, but I knew I had to do it as I was the only one who could fit in as I was the only was who grew up in an aristocratic way. Although I was only there to kill someone, the host had obviously put together a gorgeous party and the way people spoke and danced was entrancing in a way, they all seemed hypnotized from the warm atmosphere and the alcohol so to blend in until the host came into view, I danced and spoke too. I spoke of politics, my fake opinion on the host I'd never met and then things about the life of a rich person and what not, boring things to me now. I nearly almost gave up, until a voice sounded out.
"Welcome, welcome one and all! I hope this is most satisfactory, for if not, I will shoot you!"
As the whole crowd burst into laughter and clapping, I could only stand there with my mouth open staring right at him. He wasn't as old as I imagined or evil looking, he actually looked somewhat young and handsome and I almost felt myself buckle a little until I recalled what he was doing to those poorer than him, so silently I let my anger build up more and more, watching as he gave a speech about himself and how amazing he was, making me wish I had a gun to just stop him right then and there, but I couldn't. I knew I had to get close.
Soon after he was done, he went over to the fireplace near the back of the room to stand and talk to others and I knew luring him away would be hard as he was likely used to women and men throwing themselves at his feet everyday, proved by that women who spoke to me near the statue, so I had to somehow be different. Just as I was about to launch my plan, I noticed something. He wasn't really looking to his guests, he was more just staring into the fire with this almost saddened look, his eyes squinted as the orange colour from the fire painted his pale face. It was as if he was having flashbacks or something, a Human emotion perhaps, but I knew someone as evil as him could never have feelings, right?
Deciding it was worth the risk of being shot, I called out to him.
"Your speech was terrible, Mr Reaver. Please do drop dead immediately."
Of course I had no censor of what I was going to say to him, but everyone around gasped and looked at me horrified, some even covering their ears as if anticipating a gunshot to sound out, but instead of shooting me, he just grinned at me and waltzed up to me, suddenly taking my waist and pulling me into him, whispering to me about how he'd make me pay for being a brat or something, so as he was leaned into me I took this time to slowly take my knife from its holder, the fact that my hand was visibly slipping under my dress seeming to cause no alarm to him.
I knew right then and there that he wasn't fooled by me.
He knew who I was.
"Master! Look out!" I suddenly heard being shouted out and a gunshot ran through the whole foyer, my arm suddenly feeling on fire.
"That was good, but try to aim for the head next time, dear!" The man Reaver shouted out as he quickly dropped me to the floor with a clatter and stepping back, drawing a gun as the sound of heels were coming from behind until the owner of the voice calling out to him was shown to me, his maid.
She was nothing like I could've ever imagined. She was only about 5'6ft tall, had long blonde hair as had a petite frame next to someone as huge as Reaver and that too left my mouth wide open as I was even shocked that someone as breakable looking as her could hold a gun, but it was obvious she was trained, she was so fast on the draw and the way he shouted back to her proves that she must've used her powers to warn him of me. He knew all along I'd be coming for him.
"Now I knew you'd be here, but I didn't really think it would be you!" Reaver laughed out to me as everyone in the party made a big circle around us, me left on the floor clutching onto my arm for dear life. Due to my training I thought I'd be able to spring up, but I think the fact that I was caught so soon shocked me.
"Emily, my dear, I know your visions are usually quite bad but by Avo you hit the nail on this one!" The maid girl, Emily, smiled at her Master as he said those words and he let out a low laugh.
"Look, ladies and gentlemen! It is the women we never got to meet, Anastasia Wellstone!"
As he said my full title, I felt my heart sink down deep into my chest as the true severity of the situation I was in occurred to me. I had to get out right now or he'd simply kill me, or that maid girl would do it..I just had to flee.
"So the rumors were true! It's really her," It was clear he was more than amused. "The aristocrat who left to help others and even going to far to join 'The Rooks'. The Rookridge ruffian," He leaned in extra close. "The aristocrat gone all wrong." As he said those words, I quickly brought a fist up and punched him as hard as I could in the jaw before scrambling to my feet and running for the door, gun shots sounding everywhere around from a very high level sounding gun and somehow I did manage to flee, leaving my dress, gloves, mask and corset in a bush before running back to Bowerstone an getting into the tunnels.
The news that I had failed came to no surprise and everyone said it was brave of me to go and I told them about everything that happened, especially the part where not only did Reaver say my full name, but the gang I was linked to, and that's when they knew they'd have to uproot and move the gang central to another city, but when I spoke about how I got away without being shot again, they all looked at each other oddly.
I was informed that he wasn't just any Hero, but the Hero of Skill, especially in shooting and that he'd literally never missed a shot. I knew the gun was high level, something only someone with his skill could have and that's when I was told something shocking. I was now like a pawn in his game of fun. He chose not to kill me and to let me live so he could play a little game of tag and I was not ready for that. I was told I was insane for trying to kill him so soon, but perhaps a plan to kill the maid would've been better first...
Regardless, we all began to uproot and we were going to go into our own gangs domains for the time being until a new headquarters could be sought out but I was still terrified. I had made a powerful, powerful enemy within the world of authority, but I was ready to stand against it.
I was sent many mocking things (Avo knows how he tracked me) and they mostly consisted of Reaver Industries application forms, which was likely his own way of saying that he owned me, but he never would. My goals was to kill a monster, so a monster I would kill.
Yet...that image of him looking into the fire and those deep brown eyes were so different to how I imagined him, almost making me change my mind as if he was some kind of spirit making people act again their will.
I hated to admit it, but he was enticing, dangerous and intimidating in all the best ways. I was horrified but exited to face him again but even more horrified to meet his maid, Emily, once again with her powers to see the future.
A few weeks past since my time in the mansion and the thoughts of returning almost completely left my mind as I believed the mission was passed onto a few others and I'd been living back in the forests of Rookridge with the rest of my gang and I took up a job in the Rookridge tavern to get a few extra gold pieces here and there just in case of emergency and as I was sitting behind the counter one day, none other than that man Reaver walked into the inn like he owned it, which he likely did come to think of it, and his eyes locked with mine, only saying the words:
"Hello, Rookridge ruffian."