A heavy silence fell in the room until Kanda snorted, hiding his smile with his hand.

Lavi stared and snorted almost at the same moment as Kanda did, exchanging a quick glance just before Kanda could entirely hide his own amusement, and buckled over himself, laughing solidly for a good half a minute before he could even begin to rein himself back under control.

"Good one! You even got a laugh out of Yuu over there. That, my friend, takes talent!" he stood and dusted himself off, a few chuckles still lingering. "A see we found ourselves a jester over here! No, but seriously, where is it?"

The lad frowned even more and just as he took a breath to make his replay, another set of voices echoed from downstairs.

"The guards." He whispered and moved to the door. "Quick! Kill them!" He said hastily, gesturing outside. "Do something!"

" 'must have found the guards knocked out outside."

Lavi only chuckled under his breath, patting the crazy stranger's shoulder lightly as though he had not a care in the world.

"Relax, kid! You're amongst professionals. Yuu, put that old guy on the bed, make him look like he's just sleeping or somethin', then hide behind that door. You, Snowy, go hide behind that other door and stay silent."

He trotted across the room, igniting a small flame in-hand and lighting up the wood furniture in the far corner, tipping over a candle on a small table, just to make it appear a little less deliberate.

Once he had that done, he squeezed in behind the door next to the white-haired lad, holding the door close so that they were pressed against the wall, right as the guards were coming through, their attention immediately focused on the raging flames and passing by the doors without even glancing behind them or yet checking the old man in the bed who was 'oddly' not roused by the heat of the flames or smell of smoke.

Kanda jerked his head as a sign for them to make their escape and once they were outside the room they ran downstairs. He was fully intending to march through the front door, until the white haired brat grabbed their arms and stopped them.

"Not that way, are you mad? This way!" He whispered furiously and moved to the door on the right, shuffling though his clothes until he found a key. "This is the Pelagius Wing. Nobody comes here because the fools believe it is cursed. Come on!"

He urged them, jumping slightly when he heard the guards shout in alarms from upstairs. Once they were all inside he broke into a run, leading the way though the creepy rooms and corridors covered in dust and cobwebs. They run down two flights of half-rotten wooden stairs until they came to a wall barred by wooden planks.

"Tear those down and go outside! Quick!" The white boy ordered, pointing his finger at the barricade.

"Got some nerve for a little brat." Kanda scoffed nastily but did as he was told. He didn´t fancy being caught.

"At least he's helping us instead of ratting us out," Lavi pointed out lightly, helping pull the boards off in rapid succession and set them down so as not to make too much noise and draw attention, just in case anyone might hear it.

He popped the window open once it was free of its barricades and climbed out first, whistling impressment from the window sill as he got an above-view of the docks and farmsteads outside of the city, as well as all the land beyond that. "Wow, nice view. Try not to slip on anything, cuz it's a long way down."

Having given this warning, he carefully climbed down the side onto the rock-face just outside the walls of Solitude, the high-altitude breeze playing with his hair.

The boy struggled to climb through the window, holding his long, still pristine white robes like a woman would hold her skirt and steadied himself with a hand on Lavi´s shoulder.

When he stepped forward, jumping onto a boulder beneath them, Kanda awkwardly shuffled on the spot, throwing Lavi a questioning look.

"What are you waiting for?" The boy asked, looking back at them.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but..." Lavi trailed off and peered his head over the edge cautiously. "We're precariously on the edge of a drop that could kill a man, water or not." He pointed to the side. "We're taking this way. It's quicker."

And by 'quicker' he meant that they'd still actually be alive to even see the other side of the shore.

The boy rolled his eyes, murmured something under his breath and turned around.

"Oi!" Kanda yelped quickly climbing down to where the boy was standing and reached for him, only a second too late. Both men watched with eyes wide and ready to fall out of their sockets as the boy dipped forwards and fell off the cliff. Kanda stared at the place where the boy was not a second ago, holding his arm still outstretched.

A splash echoed somewhere beneath them a good five seconds afterwards, signaling that the crazy boy hit the water.

Kanda edged forward and peaked over the edge just in time to see the lad´s white head resurface and swim to the bank. Ever so slowly he turned to look at Lavi who seemed to be in just as big shock as he was.

Lavi was just as speechless, staring for several more seconds before he backed himself to the wall and flattened against it, breathing out a long, steadying breath.

"And that just confirms it. He's crazy. Utterly insane." And he wasn't, nor was he stupid, so he was going to take the same route as originally planned and let the lunatic freeze his ass off in the inlet. Or get eaten by Honkers. Or any manner of other stupid shit that befell such blatant fools. "Coming?" he tossed as he edged along the rocks towards the other side where they could climb down.

Kanda wordlessly nodded, following the redhead as they slowly made their way down the cliff.

They both cursed as they slipped countless times, their bodies tensed and sweaty even despite the frosty air. When they reached the ground, the boy was seated on the nearby rocks with his arms crossed on his chest, waiting.

"That took you a while." He commented, shaking his head.

Kanda wanted to snap something back at him but when he saw the, yet again, unblemished state the boy was in, his words froze in his throat. "What the hell? Are you insane?

"I think we've already established that he is," Lavi pointed out, picking another rock to sit on and regain some of his composure. Climbing down the rocks hadn't been nearly as easy as he had been hoping, but any falls and scrapes couldn't have been nearly as bad as hitting the water from that height.

Which raised the question of how the kid looked so unaffected. Maybe crazy was just a normal routine of his.

"Anyway, Snowy, about that treasure thing that belonged to the mage..."

The lad frowned at the redhead, hopping down from his stone and stabbed a finger at him. "I am no ´Snowy´! Stop calling me that!"

"You´re a brat and we can call you whatever we like. Now spit it out." Kanda threatened but the boy seemed more offended than scared.

"So what are you looking for again?" He asked instead, focusing back on Lavi.

"Something called the White Dragon." Honestly, had he really forgotten already? "It's supposed to be worth a lot, from what I hear, and the details were very clear that it belonged to this Hefadum guy, or so the servants around the palace have been talking about." And if anyone knew the secrets of such a place, it was those who were charged with up-keeping every corner of it, and had less reason to keep such treasures secret.

The next frown the white boy made was more like a childish pout than a frown but his unhappiness with that statement was still evident.

"Alright," he began, taking a deep breath. "I will help you obtain it, under one condition though!" He said, raising his delicate finger again.

Kanda and Lavi exchanged a long look. "I´m all ears," the assassin offered skeptically, cocking an eyebrow.

"To get this item of yours, you need a scroll - that old bastard has hidden it pretty well, after all. The scroll makes you... see the ´White Dragon´and I will lead you there, if you promise to protect me along the way." He finished, crossing his arms on his chest confidently.

Lavi stroked his chin in thought. A scroll that revealed where it was? He exchanged an indecisive glance with Kanda.

"What? Like... some sort of treasure map to where it is? Or that it's actually invisible without the scroll?" Magick could be a very versatile thing in the right hands, after all. There were ways for people to turn invisible. Why not items too?

"It is more like... yes, it´s invisible." he struggled with his words. "But in any case, you can also sell the scroll for a nice sum of money I believe. I heard that the scroll has more powers than only revealing hidden items."

"And how do we know you won´t screw us over? Lead us into a trap or anything?" Kanda asked, scowling.

"Look," the boy sighed, throwing his hands in the air, "the bastard had me on a leash, do I look like someone that could lead two killers into a trap without any preparation? Also I need your protection for a while. At least until we get the scroll. Then we can marrily part out ways, you with our money and me on my way home."

A scroll with more power than just revealing hidden items of great worth? That was worth a lot of coin on its own as well?

This White Dragon sure must be worth a lot if the man was going to such lengths to hide it. And now this scroll thing on top of it? He could almost smell the riches now.

Of course there were lots of spell scrolls out there that were worth a lot of money. Some could go for the price of a couple hundred gold. Was this one unique, or did the guy just buy into rumors and not know what the value of those were on a normal standard?

"So, uh... this scroll... any idea what kind it is? Most are only enchanted with one purpose, so what makes this one different, that it can do multiple things?"

The lad shrugged. "Ever heard of the Elder Scroll? I know it can give you´the sight´ and with that you can find different valuable things."

Lavi froze, his mouth falling open and staring long enough to make the white-haired figure uncomfortable with it, before suddenly jumping up as if there was a spring attached to his butt.

"The E-Elder Scroll?! You- You know where that is?" He almost started hyperventilating, grabbing Kanda by the shoulders and shaking him more than was probably healthy for anyone intending to keep their arms attached to their body. "Yuu! Do you know what this means for us?! Do you?!"

Kanda tch-ed, brushing Lavi´s hand off him and stepping to the side to distance himself from the bouncing rabbit. "No? Should I?" He asked, slightly hesitating. The name ringed a bell but he couldn´t quite remember why.

The boy smiled victoriously, swaying on his heels. "Do we have a deal?"

"Have you never heard of the Elder Scroll? By the Nine! Yuu! It's said to be an Aedric artifact created by the Divines! Do you know how much that would be worth?! Imagine it! Owning something said to be created by the Gods themselves! We'll be swimming in so much gold the Emperor himself would be envious!"

He pounced on the white-haired boy, squeezing him tightly.

"Gods almighty! Of course we'll do it! I'd kiss you if I didn't think you'd beat me bloody for it!"

Kanda rolled his eyes but to hide his own excitement. If what Lavi said was true, and the scroll thing was worth so much, he would be swimming in money instead of the blood of his victims.

The white boy scrunched his nose, taking a step back.
"Don´t even think about getting that mouth near to me. So, do we have a deal? You protect me until we find the Elder Scroll and then you let me go."

Kanda nodded with a smirk, waiting for Lavi´s reaction. Sure they are gonna protect the brat. As long as he held on to his deal.

"Did I stutter or something? Of course! We'd have to be more insane than you are to pass up that kind of opportunity!" he declared, bouncing excitedly.

Between him and Kanda, they could pull it off. Kanda was the best Assassin the Brotherhood had seen in decades, at least. He was a pretty good thief himself and had done more than his fair share of spelunking in his lifetime, and still come out of it alive and in-tact no matter the dangers.

They practically had it in their hands already. All they would have to do was go to wherever this kid was leading, and if it turned out to be a load of bullshit, the kid would quickly find out how bad it was to go back on such a high-stakes deal against such people.

Especially Kanda, whose tolerance for double-cross fell into the negatives range and propensity for sewing regret into such unwise people could rival that of a Deadric prince.

"Splendid," the boy said, clapping his hands together. He then looked around as if only now noticing that they are still around and very close to the city. "So, you have anywhere to stay, uhh... I didn´t catch your names?"

"Kanda and gods protect you if you call me anything else. There is a house that belongs to the Brotherhood nearby. We could spend the night there and we can decide what to do next."