I know I haven't updated lately, and I profusely apologize.
Now, the first part of this chapter isn't written from any of our heroes POV, but I think this was the best way to go about this next bit. Instead, we will be revisiting an old friend. Then we move on to Cahin's POV.
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Complaints day. In Abigail's opinion, the worst day of the month. It was the time when everyone in the village was allowed to come to the mayor's mansion and make formal complaints. This was especially trying for the young lady, because of the simple fact of her being the mayor.
It was a large step up, from being the miller's daughter to being mayor, but she thought she had handled it fairly well. After all, she was also dealing with the betrayal of her former friends. But the Assassins had explained everything to her; about how the siblings she had helped were actually the offspring of members of a secret, evil group of people called Templars.
When she found this out, she had obviously agreed to become mayor when the position was offered to her. After all, the Assassins needed someone they could trust looking over this village for them, and had recognized her quick wit and outstanding looks. Or, this was what Bernard, her advisor, told her. And why should she not believe him? He had suggested her to his superiors. He was the leader of the Assassins that disguised themselves as the Troupe, he would know what he's talking about.
But know she was listening to yet another merchant complaining about Redknife, the bandit who had been terrorizing the area for months now. But Abigail was working on a plan to solve this problem. She had sent out word to bounty hunters in the area that she would pay handsomely for Redknife's head. She had had a couple of people come in to offer their services, but all of them seemed untrained and amateurish. But today was looking to be different.
A group had come in who looked to be exactly what she wanted. They were definitely odd, with their leader possessing questionable sanity. He wore a doctors outfit, while his "assistants" wore varying clothing. One of them, a rather handsome young man, had on a well-tailored shirt and vest, with flared pants. The other two, a boy and a girl, she thought, wore painfully bright pants and shirts- one with bright reds and oranges, making him look to be on fire, the other blues and whites, giving her the appearance of an ice sculpture. Both of them wore dark grey drama masks, giving them a psychotic appearance that seemed to match their demeanors well. She couldn't quite place it, but those two seemed familiar…
"Greetings, Madam Mayor." This was the man in the bird mask. "I am the Doctor. That," he pointed to the attractive young man, who was stroking an immaculately groomed goatee, "is the Prowler. Those two," This gesture was toward the man and woman in the bright clothes, who proceeded with a mocking bow, "Are the Harlequin and the Hellaquin."
Abigail nodded. "I am mayor of this town, Abigail Greatwall. I have a job for someone of your…talents" She explained, doing her best to ignore the two jesters who were even now, performing handstands.
The Doctor cocked his head to the side. "I have heard. Something of a man called Redknife troubling your fair town?"
The mayor nodded. "Yes. Although we do not know where he is. He attacks and is then gone again before my guards can ever get to him."
The masked man shrugged. "That is no matter. I know where he is." At Abigail's surprised look, he laughed. "It took me an hour or two, but with reports and a map of the roads, I've figured out there are only three areas where he could be. We've already checked them to find out which. All we need to do now is settle on some payment."
Abigail was affronted. "You know where they are and you wait for money to deal with them? They are murderers!" She screeched, to which he only laughed.
"Yes they are, ma'am, and so are we. The difference being they kill to steal money, while we kill to be paid money. It ends the same way, only the means are different." The Doctor finished. "Now, I believe we could work out a system. Two hundred Florins per bandit, and eight hundred for Redknife. Agreed?"
At the mans nonchalant act of putting a price on human life, Abigail was unsure. Are these really the types of people she should be working with? But then again, if she wanted to keep her people safe, any price was worth it.
"Agreed."
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Cahin was not a happy man. After all, finding out your past fiancée was not only the mayor of your old home town, but finding out she also worked for the people that killed your family? It was just one more bad thing to add to the list.
He and Caha had not wanted to take the job back at home, but Malfatto had made an excellent point. Namely, it paid well. Their leader had said that he would not allow the demons of their past to jeopardize their new family. Therefore, the minute this job had come available, the Doctor had packed them up and set forth.
That was how Cahin found himself standing in front of a cave, knives in hand, ready to go in and kill everyone he found. Sighing through the unfamiliar mask, he grumbled for the thousandth time about his change in costume. Malfatto slapped him on the back of the head for his troubles. "You know as well as I do that that girl would recognize you in your other getup. Just be thankful we could find something that fits your… unique style."
Cahin grudgingly nodded, before he brought his mind back to the task at hand. The plan was simple: Malfatto had some jars of something-or-other that he would throw into the cave. The fumes would choke the bandits, and the survivors would run out; directly into their waiting blades.
Cahin and the other two younger people nodded to show they were ready, and the Doctor heaved the two jars into the cave, quickly picking up another two to accompany them. Throwing the last of the vile things inside, he grabbed his syringe of poison and readied for the inevitable.
The fist man to dash outside, coughing and hacking, got about as far as the exit before Caha silenced him with a thrown dagger. The next two got the same treatment, before they came out in numbers that made the silent method inefficient. Cahin pulled both his pistols out, taking two more bandits down, and only now did their victims realize what was going on. Too late.
Cahin saw Lupo sail out amongst three of them, catching them by surprise. Malfatto was fighting two more, while Caha kept up a rain of knives, slipping one into a rib whenever a guard was down. This left Cahin to deal with the last man to exit the cave.
He was without a doubt huge. Standing only a few inches short of seven feet tall, he looked to be three hundred pounds of muscle. The long crimson dagger he gripped left little doubt who he was.
Taking a clumsy but powerful swing at the Harlequin, he was utterly bewildered when the smaller man didn't run. Instead, Cahin grabbed the giants arm and swung himself up. Scrambling up the stunned mans bicep, the jest drove one knife into his victims collarbone, eliciting a yell of pain. As Redknife brought his namesake up in a stabbing motion, Cahin used his dagger as a handle, and swung around to his adversaries other shoulder. Bringing his other dagger up, he plunged it into the mans temple. As Redknife collapsed, the other killers-for-hire cheered their successful friend. Laughing as he sat down on the corpse of the giant, the Harlequin grinned. "Hey Goliath, I'm David."