Morroc is a peaceful town. Not a very pretty one or wealthy one, most of the residents are impoverished, dirty, and short-lived, but the town is peaceful. I've been all over the world in my time, and I still can't think of anyplace I love more than Morroc. I can think of people, but no places. I jump ahead of myself, though.
If I sound a little cold in this writing, I apologize. I wasn't always so, but I've been tricked and stepped on so many times that it's hard to keep the cheerful demeanor I used to have. One can only stand so many lies, and so much betrayal. I've been hurt, and hurt others worse, and I can't say but that everything has weight heavily on my heart.
My name is Lilliandrei, Stalker, Thief, and enemy to the organized governments of the world. Here is my tale.
"Hey, Lil, how's the catch today?" A strawberry blonde said as she hooked her arm around my neck and rubbed her fist in my violet hair. I was seventeen, and already a bit of a scoundrel in Morroc. Since I never had any family I made my way in the world snatching an apple or two off the street vendors' carts, and then running as fast as I could into the desert to keep from getting my hand sliced off.
"Pretty good, Miyaka. I have five apples, two chunks of meat, and a new knife, see?" I said, having yanked myself from her chokehold. I pulled each item out of my sack as I mentioned it, and then tossed Miyaka an apple. She grinned and bit down. Miyaka had been my best friend forever, and we always did things together. On occasion some of the older women in the town would think we were lovers, but neither of us had really given it any thought. We were friends, great comrades, and not really interested. Miyaka chewed her bite, swallowed, and grinned.
"This is great, Lil. Is this from ol' man Raoul's stash?"
"Nope, after what that geezer did to me last time I tried, I figure it's best to let him be. This is from some new guys in town. One of them's a mage. He has these cool purple robes, but he insists on wearing this stupid hat."
"Idiot! What if he comes after you? He could burn us to a crisp, or make us icicles. I've heard what those mages can do!"
"I don't think he will. His friend saw me, and shook his head. I think they figure we need the food, and they'll let it slide."
"Well, alright." Miyaka looked worried, despite my assurances. However, she knew better than to push things, and I was glad not to have them pushed. I was feeling really good about myself, and I was excited. It's not often that there are visitors in Morroc, and these two were just so cool. I hadn't caught the mage's name, but he called his companion Korva. It was a cool name, and I filed it away in the back of my mind, just in case I ever needed a cool name. Miyaka changed the subject.
"Are you thinking of joining the thieves' guild?" She asked, having finished her apple and stolen some of my meat. I hadn't given it much thought, but, being the impulsive child I was, decided to have a go.
"Hell yeah! I'm going to join up and become the best thief there ever was. People worldwide will go, 'have you heard of that Lilliandrei, violet stalker of the Morroc night?' and they'll reply, 'oh, I hope he never comes here.'" I stood up, and began pantomiming my future praises, waving my hands about and striking cool-man poses. Miyaka rolled on the ground laughing. I couldn't keep my composure, and fell into the desert sands next to her, giggling like a schoolgirl.
"Well, people worldwide will certainly hear you laughing if you keep that up." A soft voice said. I glanced up to see the mage and his swordsman companion standing over us, grinning. I flipped out my knife and got ready to run, and saw Miyaka do the same. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. I repeated in my head. We're done for this time. The mage walked over to my pack, and took the knife.
"You can keep the rest of the stuff, but my magic isn't limitless, so I'll have to be keeping my knife." He whispered, and then he turned and grinned at me. To be honest I had pissed my pants from fear already, since earlier I had seen him call fire from the sky. He slid the knife into his waistband, underneath his cloak, and tipped his hat to us. Korva, his swordsman friend waved his sword in our direction.
"Stealing is bad." He said, and then he laughed. Korva sheathed his sword, and cocked his head towards the town. "Let's go, Ethros. These two aren't worth our time." The two of them left us there in the middle of the desert, and I collapsed in relief. Looking back, I probably don't remember what they said exactly, since the tales I had heard about those two from later companions don't quite mesh with my memories, but I was a scared youth, and I digress.
The sun was setting, and Miyaka and I decided that it might not be the best idea to go back to town quite yet, so we set up a campfire, and curled up next to it. She noticed the stain on my pants and made fun of me for it, so when I took them off to dry them over the fire I couldn't resist whipping her with them. This, of course, lead to a bit of a wrestling match, which I lost. We laughed, I set my pants up to dry, and then we lay down by the fire to sleep through the night. Neither of us knew that we had been watched by a pair of Assassins, nor did we know that, about halfway through the night, we'd be woken from sweet dreams of riches and manors when a storm came over the desert and dumped an ocean on our heads.
I woke up swearing. The fire was out, my pants were hanging wetter than they were before, and now my shit and undergarments were getting soaked. Miyaka was hiding under her sleeping roll, clothing wet and hair in her eyes.
"This sucks, Lil. I'm f-freezing." She said, shivering from the wet. I was inclined to agree with her, but I felt like being the pillar of strength in the freezing rain.
"We n-need to get t-to town, Miy-yaka-a. B-b-before we freeze to death." I said, and she nodded in agreement. We grabbed our packs, and left our camp sitting out in the open while we ran through the pelting rain towards Morroc. Lightning flashed in the sky and thunder rolled, and to be honest I was terrified. In the darkness I missed seeing a ridge, and tripped over it and went rolling. Fortunately, with the exception of a few cuts and scrapes, I didn't receive any injuries. Miyaka slid down after me, and we took off running. Lightning struck the ridge we had just slid down, not more than a minute after we had gotten moving, and my nerves were frayed and shaking. My wet hair matted in my left eye, annoying the hell out of me, but I could see the gate ahead, and redoubled my sprint. Miyaka followed close behind, and we both barreled through the gate before the guards had time to say anything. Just then, the rain stopped, and the wind started. I stopped right where I was and turned around to see a wall of sand coming at the city. The guards screamed and turned tail to flee, and I couldn't help but agree that was a good idea. We ran as fast as our legs could take us down the main street, tripping occasionally over an angled cobblestone. Several citizens looked out of their houses to see what the ruckus was, and almost immediately joined us on our flight.
Our destination was the central temple, the only building in town which could withstand a direct hit from a sandstorm. Miyaka and I threw the doors open and barreled inside at the head of the mob, flung ourselves behind a statue to one of the old gods, and I covered my head with my hands. Miyaka buried her head into my chest, and we held onto each other for dear life while the guards shoved the doors shut and bolted them. Almost immediately afterwards, the doors were slammed from the outside, and the deafening winds of the storm began to come through the side windows of the temple, spraying us with sand. It was miserable.
We sat there for a good hour until the winds died down, and then sighed with relief. Our clothes, already soaked from the rain, had sand clinging to them all over, and were definitely ruined. Though our hair was matted with sand, our clothes ruined, and our bodies aching from all sorts of cuts and abrasions, we joined in the joyous cheers of the crowd. We had survived, and I looked at the ancient statue above me. I didn't know what god it was, but I thanked it for saving us, and stood up. Miyaka and I pushed our way through the crowd, and out of the temple.
"Ow." I said, and that one syllable summarizes how Morroc looked at that moment. Many tents and hovels had been knocked over, and the merchants' stands were pulverized. The sun was rising at the time, and the whole scene looked surreal. I saw some people who hadn't been as fortunate as we were laying in the streets. Miyaka grabbed my arm, and started sobbing.
"This is horrible, Lil. It's just horrible." She whimpered. I gave her a comforting hug, and saw Ethros and Korva come running around the side of the temple, apparently from the Inn. They stopped and talked back and forth very rapidly, but I couldn't catch what they were saying. They turned and walked away, and I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"It's not a pretty picture, is it?"
I turned around to see a pair of men, each one wearing a pair of denim shorts with their muscular upper bodies wrapped in bandages. Both were hiding their faces behind bandannas, one wearing a red one and the other a blue. I was already quite shaken from the night's events, and moved my hand to the knife at my side, while I gave them a twice over. Red had a long white braid, and Blue had short-cropped rust hair. Both of them had Katar, and stood with very smug looks on their faces.
"It's a horrible picture, those two villains just coming out to survey the damages, then running back to the Inn, probably to drink and congratulate each other." Red said. He rolled his eyes, and glanced at me.
"Who are you?" I demanded. I was sick of new people by this point, and just wanted to go find a river somewhere private so I could strip naked and take a much needed bath.
"Oh, we overheard you in the desert, talking about how you want to join the thieves' guild. We're representatives. You can call us by our codenames. I'm Red." Red said, pointing to his bandanna, "and this is Blue."
"What do you want?" I shrieked. Miyaka stood behind me, her left hand on my shoulder and, judging from her weight, probably holding one hand on her knife. Blue smiled, and shrugged his arms.
"We aren't going to hurt you." Blue assured, "We want to give you a chance to join our fine institution. You see, those two men you met earlier, the ones who are at the Inn. They're criminals. Horrible, horrible villains wanted the world over."
"It's true, what Blue said." Red spat, and pointed accusingly at me. "Do you think that sandstorm was a fluke, an act of nature? No, that evil mage summoned it. He's probably patting himself on the back right now for all the chaos he caused. He and his swordsman buddy travel from town to town, leaving a trail of corpses in their wake, and now they've struck us, here, in Morroc."
I was terrified, not of Red and Blue, but of Ethros and Korva. What if they came after us later, cut us down where we stood? I dropped my knife in shock, and stuttered, unable to make a sound. Fortunately, Miyaka had managed to gather her wits.
"What do you want from us?" She asked. I could tell from how tight her grip was on my shoulder that she was as scared as I was, if not more so. I put my free hand on hers, and felt it relax a little.
"We need to you make friends with them. Get on their good sides; make them love you. Then, when you have their trust, take them west of town and kill them. We'll be nearby to help you if you get in trouble." Red put his hand on my shoulder; the one Miyaka wasn't using, and smiled. "Take care of them for us, and you'll be given positions of honor in the guild. How does that sound?"
For an instant, my fear was washed away, replaced by images of riches, of power. I pictured Miyaka and myself wearing trinkets of gold, organizing young orphans like us and teaching them how to make their way in the world. Before I knew it, I'd already said, "We'll do it."
"Great!" Blue exclaimed, and the two of them began to walk away. "Take all the time you need, we'll be keeping an eye on you."
With that, they disappeared into the crowd, and Miyaka and I turned our attention to one another. Miyaka had a disapproving look in her eyes.
"Hey, you're the one who mentioned the guild. Besides, I can't stand the thought of villains like that walking free." I said, defending my thoughtless agreement.
"I guess you're right. Well, before we do that, I think it might be a good idea to get ourselves cleaned up." She said. I agreed, and we headed south of town, where we knew there was a goodly sized lake hidden in a nice alcove, where we could bathe in peace.