Disclaimer is always first! - Skyrim and its characters are not owned by me. Any name in this writing is owned by Bethesda, excluding my own character and a few other elements. The ideas are from my mind unless otherwise stated. Thank you.

About a year ago, I began working on this story. It got pretty far, too - three chapters? Four? And then I stopped, due to school. Recently, I've read it over, and now I want to keep working on it, slowly. I really loved this thing. To those of you who are still following me and who followed because of this story, surprise! I'm sorry for taking it down. ):

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Shh! We've done it before. Come on, this will work fine."

I followed the two thieves through the darkness. My eyes weren't adjusted well to the darkness, so I couldn't quite see them, only able to make out two dark figures moving silently ahead of me. A soft wind blew through the valley, making it even more comfortable to wear the Nightingale armor. At first, I hadn't really taken a liking to the apparel, since it was stiff and hard to put on. But it was several weeks since then, and I had adjusted to the feeling. Now all I had to adjust to was the oath of Nocturnal.

"I know, but I mean, I've never gone with you on this kind of heist before, and-"

"Would you shut up!" another figure shouted back, a young man that was at least several years older than I was. "Nobody cares if you've done this or not! You're here now."

I immediately shut my mouth, hurrying to catch up. "Sorry, Mercer," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"No, you're not. Now shut your mouth! We're almost there."

We made it a few minutes later, sticking to the shadows of the house and creeping towards the door. Mercer tested the door, cursing softly.

"Locked," he answered. "Anyone have a spare?"

"What kind of a thief are you, forgetting your own lockpicks?" I retorted curtly, reaching inside the hood of my armor and pulling a spare lockpick from my hair. I handed it to him.

"What kind of a thief keeps their lockpicks in plain sight?" he answered back, tugging it from my grip and starting to work on the door. "Not a normal one, that's for sure."

"Oh, stop it, you two," the girl complained, lifting her sleek bow from her shoulder. "This is no time for petty arguments."

But I refused to give up. "Are you calling me abnormal?"

"I'm certainly not calling you very ordinary."

I punched Mercer lightly, expecting it to distract him from his work. But it didn't, because he already had it unlocked.

"I'm keeping this lockpick," he said blandly. I tried to make a grab for it before he could do anything, but he weaved it into his sleeve the second I made a move.

"You'd steal a lockpick from a poor little girl like me?" I asked in a hushed tone, feigning anger. In truth, it didn't really matter, because I had plenty. I had my hair pinned up with them, for Divines' sake, even if it took a lot of work each morning just to keep them in place.

Mercer turned around, lifting a shoulder and pushing the door open slowly. "I'm a thief. You're a thief. I don't really care," he whispered gruffly. "Stop bothering me."

I could hear faint laughter from behind me and shook my head. "I hate both of you. I don't even know why I'm here." I muttered something about dirty, lockpick-stealing thieves as we entered into the house, earning me a fist in the side. I clamped my mouth shut to stifle a cry.

"Do you want to get us caught?" the girl whispered-yelled urgently to the two of us. I shook my head. I'd submit for now, but when we got out of there…

Now that it was silent, I could finally focus on what we were doing. Never mind that I was the one causing the noise. I looked around the darkness of the house, trying to map out where the doorways and rooms were. If we had to make a quick escape, it did me well to know the way towards the exit. It wasn't good for someone's reputation around Skyrim if word got out that they were in the Thieves Guild. I had a pretty white reputation around Riften and the rest of the Holds, but if someone figured out that I was in cahoots with them, it would ruin my image. Likely forever.

I drew out my dagger. When I was little, mother gave it to me after a house robbery that left us with only a few hundred gold pieces. It took us five years to rebuild our funds and get us back to where we needed to be. In that time, my father hired a trainer to come and teach me how to use this dagger, as well as a proper sword. He would come once a week, teaching me the basic movements and strokes that it took to be a decent blade wielder. Since I learned quickly, it only took me a couple months before I could almost match up to him. But he was always quicker than me, even when I was trying my hardest.

I ran my thumb down the flat of the blade, clutching it tightly and moving into the first room. I could hear the other two following me closely and slowed to a near stop. "Wait, why am I going first?"

"It's alright," the girl murmured reassuringly. It calmed my nerves, and I glanced around. The three of us were in here for the sole purpose of finding some important document. I had no idea about what it was supposed to be written on it anyways. I was a Nightingale, but it didn't mean the Guild thought I was "mature" enough to handle some extra information. According to the guild master, Gallus, I was too young to be filled in on everything that they had to attend to. A few more years would do me good, he said.

I diverted my attention from the job to search for loose coins, or maybe even a small coin purse. Those were always my favorite things to look for whenever we broke into a home or some other structure. Unfortunately, there was nothing of interest in plain sight except for some bowls and spare boots. I crept over to a nearby cabinet, opening it a crack and glancing inside. Nothing but old clothes and a cheap ring. I shut it again, moving on to the next cabinet. Still nothing.

"Katica, Karliah, over here. I think I found something." A whisper.

Sure you did, I thought, slinking quietly toward Mercer. "What?" I whispered back, my eyes darting around his hunched form. "Where?"

Mercer tossed a wrinkled piece of paper onto the table next to him, straightening up and smoothing it out. "Karliah, is this what we're looking for?"

"Okay, great, ignore me," I whispered angrily, but I didn't push the subject. Instead, I moved into the shadows again, heading into another room while the two discussed in hushed voices. This room had a window, and I was immediately attracted to it. The moonlight made it brighter outside than it was in the house, which was what made the scenery so much more enjoyable to look at. I was always a sucker for beautiful views.

Something gleaming in the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I turned towards it. Coins, I thought, before making my way to them. My fingers found the first, second, third gold piece laying out in plain view, and I tucked them snugly in my sleeve. With a little bit of searching, I found four more gold pieces before Karliah and Mercer finally caught up.

"It wasn't it," said Karliah softly. "Just a letter from a friend." There was no trace of anger or frustration in her voice.

I frowned, despite the fact that my hood concealed it. "And I thought it really would be that easy."

"Idiot," Mercer muttered, pushing past me. "Anything in here?"

"That was sarcasm. Learn it," I said coldly. "And I already cleaned it out." Without waiting for another snide comment, I slipped out of the room and into the hallway. I almost forgot to keep quiet, but being exposed in the open hallway granted me an uncomfortable reminder. My fingers tightened around the dagger.

Someone gripped my forearm suddenly, yanking me back. I whirled on the attacker, my dagger on a smooth course towards their chest. They reached out, catching my wrist tightly and forcing it down to my side.

"Katica! What the hell!" came their voice, angry but quiet. I immediately relaxed, trying to calm the pounding in my chest.

"What was that for?" I asked breathlessly as Mercer released my arms. I let them fall to my sides.

"Don't you remember the damned map? Bedroom's that way," he growled, turning his back on me and prowling towards another open doorway. "Don't go over there. I'm pretty sure what we're looking for is not in there."

"You never know." I followed him, taking a breath to steady my breathing. Karliah was already in the room, brushing her hand over cupboards and tables in her noiseless search. Mercer and I quickly joined, scouring the room for suspicious objects.

Two minutes later, our search proved fruitless.

"Up the stairs," Karliah whispered, waving us into the hallway again. "Quickly, we don't want anyone hearing us."

I bounded up the stairs behind the two Nightingales, watching where they stepped and making sure I retraced them. We slipped into another unlit room. I found a small coin purse, which I quickly put away before the other two noticed. We were told to take only what we needed from the house, and if the others saw me pilfering extra money, they wouldn't be happy. Sure, the Guild always appreciated the extra gold, but this was an important operation. Or so I was told.

"Find anything?" asked Karliah.

Both Mercer and I shook our heads.

She frowned. "We have to get back soon. It's already been too long since we left."

"How about we each take a room?" I suggested, backing up into the hallway. "There are only three left anyways."

"That's a good idea," said Mercer. "That way, if you get caught, Karliah and I can just-"

"Oh shut up," I said bitterly, heading down the hallway to the door on the end. I stepped inside and crouched down, looking around the room. It looked secure, with only a few shelves and a wooden chest.

Maybe there's something in there. I crept towards the chest, glancing around again just in case there was someone I missed, but it was safe.

The chest was locked. I pulled out a lockpick, sticking it into the lock, and tested it. It wouldn't budge from its position, so I moved it toward the left, gently torqueing it and trying again. Nothing. I repeated the process twice before the weak thing broke. The second one only took three times before it snapped.

I shut my eyes to concentrate and pulled out a third one, inserting it into the lock of the chest. I moved it around until I could feel the tip of it slide into place, and then twisted it slowly until I felt the unnatural click that I was so familiar to. A smile crept onto my face when, with a simple turn of the pick, the lock popped open.

I shut my mouth to stifle a triumphant laugh and removed the lock, opening the chest. It was filled nearly to the brim with spare clothes. No gold or valuables in sight. Working as quickly and silently as possible, I began to pull the clothes from inside, thoroughly checking inside the pockets before dropping them onto the floor beside me. A few Imperial cloaks, as well as fancy robes were among the contents that I searched, each one empty of gold or letters.

I was about to give up and dump the clothes back in when I saw something unnatural at the bottom of the chest. It was lighter than the rest of it, folded up tightly so that it was almost hidden from view. I took it and unfolded it slowly, holding my breath in case I had been too loud rooting through the chest. I scanned the parchment over, reading it aloud in a soft whisper.

"A note to my successor,

You have done a pleasant job with carrying out the plans in the Rift. My courier has given word of the changes that have been occurring since you have arrived in the Hold. The Jarl of Riften has given her kind word to allow me to enter into the city, thanks to you. She seems to have forgiven my past deeds now. We do not need her word to strike the union that has formed underneath her city. Soon, you will receive another letter with word with how the rest of the plans will go. Expect it soon. Prepare for blood and tears from those rats.

Your Superior."

It sounded like whoever was in the house was helping with an attack on people in Riften. And judging by the use of the word "rat", it sounded like they were going to attack the Guild.

I skimmed over the words again as panic set in. Quickly, my fingers folded the paper back up. I stuffed it into the sleeve of my armor, beginning to put the garments back where they belonged and trying not to make much noise.

So this was what they were looking for. I had no doubts that this wasn't it, because it sounded serious. And it involved the Guild. Someone wanted to hurt us, and they had been planning it for who knew how long.

I stuffed the last robe into the chest and shut it tightly, replacing the lock back where it belonged. I had to tell the other two and get us out of there before we really were caught snooping around. I got up and practically ran toward the door and out into the hallway.

"Karliah," I whispered loudly. "Mercer! I found something!"

I could just barely make out the sounds of their footsteps retreating back into the hallway. Their dark forms appeared silently before me.

"Something useless, I'm guessing?" suggested Mercer.

"No, I found a letter," I said softly, glancing around. Now that we actually had something important, I felt more anxious than I usually did. "It mentions the Guild in it, I think."

"You think?"

"Well, not directly. But I think they're plans to try and attack us."

The silence seemed to last for hours.

Karliah spoke first. "I think that may be what we're looking for. We'd better go before anyone finds out we're here, first. Then I'd like to see that letter, if you've still got it."

"I do."

In several seconds, we were down the stairs and back at the door. Mercer cracked it open carefully, waiting until Karliah and I had slipped out before following suit. Then the three of us made our way across the grounds of the house, keeping silent until we reached the shadows of the trees nearby.

"Where is the letter?" Karliah asked. I pulled it out of my sleeve, opening it up and handing it to her. She held it out in the moonlight and read it over. Mercer peeked over her shoulder, silent.

"Someone's planning an attack," said Karliah after she had skimmed it through.

"Yeah, I got that," I answered. "I assumed you already knew about it. I don't know a thing because everyone has kept it from me."

"You'd ruin everything," Mercer cut in helpfully. I took a step toward him angrily, but Karliah placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.

"It's safer for now if you don't. We'll tell you everything when the time is right."

I took in a breath, then exhaled slowly. "Sure."

The Nightingale folded the letter back up, handing it to Mercer, who stowed it away. "Thank you for coming with us," she said.

I shrugged and turned away. "Only because I like this guild so much."

Then the first arrow hit.