The quiet patter of feet on wooden tiles was all that could be heard of the small group of elves that passed over the roofs. Like phantoms in the night, the small four-man team dashed over the winding paths that the housetops made, leaping with near silence when there was a break over a street, always heading in the general direction toward the great peak that was Fort Drakon.
Wood tiles became clay shingles as they passed from the ramshackle houses to multi-story finely laid out buildings that the rich inhabited. They came to a halt as one with a raised fist from the lead elf that padded quietly to the edge of the building and dropped down onto a balcony below. Crouched low, her vivid green eyes scanned the surroundings, looking for any hint of movement in the dark house. When no one appeared disturbed by her sudden appearance, she quickly tried the door and slipped inside, then snapped three times.
Behind her, the other three elves dropped onto the balcony as well with varying amounts of silence and grace. Kallian watched from inside the threshold of the door with bated breath, counting to twenty after the last one had dropped before ghosting through the house. She seemed to flicker from view as she went, using the shadows to her advantage as she ghosted from one side of the room to the other, placing her hand on the door knob on the opposite side and pushed gently, emerging into a narrow hallway. The candles had been blown out for the night, which kept the hall totally dark save for patches of pale moonlight that streamed through the windows. Signaling over her shoulder, the other three elves surged forward at the all-clear sign and spread out around the house.
In the group were Oen and Pita, the timid girl being much more confident stealing from unwary minor nobility in the dark when everyone was asleep than during the day had volunteered her services. The third of her companions was a new elf called Rido, a man who was only about as tall as Kallian was, which made him shorter than Pita and a dwarf compared to Oen. But he was quick witted and deft with a lock pick, though his sneaking skills were rough compared to Kallian's near silent movement. He had black hair and dark brown eyes, his only true physical distinction being a tattoo on his face given to him by a surface dwarf, the geometric pattern on his cheek instantly recognizable against his fairly pale skin.
All of them were dressed plainly, unable to afford anything more than typical peasant clothes complete with dirt stains and rips in the sleeves and on the hems. Kallian and Rido sported thick belts at their waists that held their lock picking supplies and other things necessary for thieves that had either been fairly stolen or rightfully smuggled into the city. Aside from their poor appearance, all of them had been issued a strip of red cloth to wear on their person at all times, the sign of their small gang, the Knifers. Anyone not connected to the underbelly of Denerim would probably not know what the red cloth signified, but other gangs would immediately know. It was both a target and a safeguard, protecting them from less influential gangs and making them a target for larger ones that had a bone to pick or wanted to eliminate some competition. Kallian wore two as the leader, the cloth wrapped around her scarred wrists and hands like gloves.
A few of the doors that Pita and Oen tried were locked, so Kallian dug out her lock picking kit and bent in front of the knobs, tinkering with them until they clicked open. Rido did the same with a storage closet that Pita had tried and failed to open, the nervous woman disappearing into the darkness as soon as the door was open. Kallian stood at the top of the flight of stairs to keep watch over things, signaling silently for Rido to go downstairs. They had discussed needing food earlier at the hideout, so he made his way down the stairs eagerly, looking forward to bringing back fresher food than what they had stored back at their place.
Rido returned shortly with a bulging pack, grinning to Kallian in the dark and headed back toward the door that they'd originally come through. Once everything that could be easily pawned was secreted away in the now bulging packs, they all followed, stealing off into the night and back toward the docks.
Some weeks ago, Kallian had found what may have one point been a brewery, but it was now utterly abandoned and boarded up. It had long gone out of business when the basement had flooded and remained waterlogged even to this day. Being so close to the shore, Kallian had not been surprised to find brackish water quietly pooled under the wooden floor of the first story. Since then she Oen and Pita had set up the top floor into something that resembled a barrack. There were mattresses that they'd either stolen or otherwise fairly acquired spread out on the floor, complete with all manner of mismatched blankets. They had a few crates that they used to store food and goods waiting to be pawned off for money stacked in a dark corner where a pile of hay had formerly been sitting.
Their activities hadn't gone unnoticed by the other thieves in the area, and between recruiting for new members and having stray elves turn up on their doorstep unbidden, the Knifers were now a group seven strong, and amassing street credit that kept others out of their hide-out at a startling rate with Kallian leading them on near nightly raids. Only once had another band tried to oust them from what they claimed to be "their" territory by the docks, but that had ended quite quickly with only one of them leaving mostly intact, his other partners in crime left bleeding in an alleyway.
Since then Kallian had strove to teach the others how to defend themselves in a knife fight, imparting on them the knowledge that she'd received from her mother. It was slow going, and they weren't any sort of dangerous force to take out a squad of guards, but that would change in time. Only one of her fellows she considered a possible equal, an elf that claimed to have formerly been part of another gang but had willingly left it when he heard that an all-elf group lead by a phantom had started dominating the docks.
She wasn't entirely sure what his real name was, though she was entirely positive that his real name wasn't "Sticker", which was how he'd introduced himself when he asked to join her gang and pledged his loyalty to her cause. He spoke very little, and when he did it was in a strangely deep voice that didn't at all match his otherwise mousy profile. He had orange-red hair and green eyes that bordered more on yellow than anything, and was average physically in every possible way as far as elves went. Though he'd obviously been at the game for a long time if the numerous scars from knife fights decorating his arms were anything to tell by. He'd come with his own set of long knives that bore the emblem of the guard on their hilts and was wicked quick with them. Kallian had itched to test her skills on him, having not done any serious fighting at all since her botched escape attempt from the Denerim estate. Her time in prison had dulled her skills with blades considerably, and her physical state had suffered tremendously being malnourished kept chained to a wall unable to move.
When they arrived, Sticker and two other elves, Sola and Noris were sitting talking to each other in the center of the barn. Sticker looked up and nodded at their presence before resuming listening to whatever tale Noris was weaving animatedly.
Sola and Noris had come as a package deal, the brother and sister having been locked out of the Alienage when it was closed up before they could return home from their job cleaning some noble's house. Caught outside the Alienage at night, both had been detained for two days before being released out on the streets. Their employers would hear no excuses however, and so the two had been going hungry ever since. They recognized Kallian and begged to join up with her group, pledging to learn anything that they could to help out. She'd let them on, and since then the two had nestled up to Sticker like chicks to a mamma bird. He'd been teaching them blade work, so she often left the three behind to guard the hideout when the other four left on a job.
Sola was more interested in their return than Sticker was, and got up from where she sat to come and take the heavy bag that Kallian was holding, grimacing as she hefted it over her shoulder. "Looks like you did good tonight."
"Aye." Kallian replied, rolling her shoulders to alleviate some stiffness. "Our obvservin' paid off. There wasn't nobody in the house. It was a clean sweep."
Sola smiled and took the bag over to the corner with the crates, dropping it along with the others who assimilated in the center of the room to listen to Noris weave his tale. Except for Pita. She retired to a corner with her drawn expression and crawled into bed, remaining silent for the rest of the night. Sola stayed near Kallian though, following their leader as she went to unbuckle the belts that wound around her shoulders and stomach that held on the dual long knives that were attached to her back, then pulled off her boots with a grunt.
"Kallian I've a… question…" She hedged, taking a careful perch on a mattress near the one that Kallian had claimed as her own, watching as the redheaded elf continued to dress down. When Kallian didn't react beyond pulling off her other boot, Sola continued. "The situation with the Alienage…"
Kallian sighed, dropping her boot and leaning her forearms against her knees, legs crossed on her mattress. "Sola… We've talked 'bout this."
"I know but…" She bit her lip and twisted a lock of auburn hair around her finger, eyes becoming sad. "It's been a long while now since Arl Howe… er… Teyrn Howe…? Started the Purge. I'm so worried for our parents… Noris puts on a brave face but he's worried too. And your father… He thought that you'd been killed for sure. He was devastated that you'd been taken, and even more so when you didn't come back."
Kallian stared at her clasped hands, her heart clenching painfully at the mention of her father, her mind inevitably recalling the events that had lead to her capture in painful clarity. Her fingers twisted a ring on her hand, the only thing she had left from that past life. It was low-quality metal at best, but was expertly forged, the metal a perfect circle and all smooth edges, the ring supposed to be given to her by her now very dead fiancé. She heaved a sigh, dragging her thoughts away from that dark path. "We don't have the people, or the trainin' for it Sola. I'm sorry."
The girl heaved a sigh of her own, turning her face away to stare pointedly at the wall, avoiding Kallian's own grief stricken face. "Couldn't we find somebody to teach us?" Sola hedged in a timid voice, daring to peek at Kallian's face out of the corner of her eye.
Slowly, she shook her head in denial. "We'd need to practice against someone who's got skills like a guard. I'm handy with my blades, an' Sticker's got a handle on his too, but we ain't guards. We don't got nothin' to practice proper against. Last thing I want is for ya'll to be dyin' afore you can check on yer parents. I'm sorry."
The two women lapsed into silence for a while before Sola finally stood, leaving Kallian to her thoughts to join the others, who were laughing at some antics that Noris was pulling with Oen.
Kallian's fists tightened, the red cloth tied around her hands shifting under the strain. 'I truly am sorry.'
-0-0-0-
Dawn in Denerim was a busy time. All of the shop owners were out and about getting things ready and scolding apprentices and hired help for being late to the early shift. Traders that had camped outside the city gates for the night were flooding into the market in a wave, a ruckus of horses, oxen, dogs and people spreading out and eventually waking the whole neighborhood, the Chantry bells ringing above all the other clamor.
Kallian was perched on a rooftop, her back against a protruding chimney that was warm from the fire that burned a story below. She watched the morning unfold, her practiced eyes picking over probable targets and contemplating the day's activities. Her thoughts wandered briefly to the pack of mercenaries that had finally cleared out after causing trouble pretty much everywhere they went. The Dalish elf leading the motley crew (and it really was motley, she hadn't seen any group so mismatched before) was obviously working to gather as much coin as he could get in the city, snatching up anything on the Chanter's board that didn't involve roof repair and stomping off angrily to complete the duties. They'd even disturbed the peace at the Pearl on more than one occasion during their stay, and somehow managed to pick a fight with just about every gang besides her own that claimed bits of Denerim as their territory from here to the other side of the river.
She shook her head at the thought, not particularly missing those that had been taken out in the bloody rampage that the elf had caused. His eliminating a good number of her group's competition had cut out a lot of struggle on her behalf. She'd tried to get some information on them, but whoever they were they weren't advertising very well. The group had no name to speak of as far as she could have told, but there were rumors that they were the last of the Grey Wardens, come from Ostagar with the blood of the King on their hands. Right. If that angry Dalish, the puppy-faced man, and the softhearted Orlesian woman were Grey Wardens, then she would eat her boot. Though her sources did agree as one that the huge bull of a man with the purple eyes was a Quinari, which lead to her further suspecting that they were a mercenary group. The Quinari that dotted Ferelden's cities were always mercenaries.
Whoever they were or whatever their purpose, they had left some handful of days ago and she hadn't seen hide nor hair of any of them since. They'd moved on, and street thugs were safe again in the relative freedom of only having a legion of lay about bastards left to guard the citizenry.
Standing with a yawn and a stretch, Kallian gestured for Sticker and Rido to do the same, the two following her without question as she dropped down onto a cart parked in middle of the alleyway directly below, and from there hopped onto the ground, heading for the market. The three elves walked quietly together and joined the flow of morning traffic, making a round to check things out and see if anything had changed in the night. Kallian took mental note of the guards patrolling the area, tallying up who was hung-over, who was sober, which ones looked shifty or weak, and which ones were the veterans.
Moving about like this with her attention on observing the crowd, she didn't notice a four-legged battering ram darting between legs at a startling speed until Sticker called out a warning a few seconds too late. Kallian turned just in time to have the mabari hound pummel her in the stomach, knocking the wind clean out of her before she hit the ground hard. The dog was licking her voraciously, the movement of wagging his stubby tail wiggling his whole backside.
"Keran!" A male's voice called out over the crowd, and immediately the dog stopped harassing his elven prey, panting with a doggy grin on his face and ears perked toward his master.
Gasping for air, Kallian shoved the dog off of her roughly and managed to sit up in time to see two familiar faces rush out of the sluggish morning crowd, hot on the heels of their renegade dog. Aedan quickly ran to Keran's side and whapped him on the nose. "What have I told you about tackling random strangers?" He growled at the dog who retreated with a whine and looked very guilty indeed. The human looked ragged around the edges, the beginning of a very scruffy beard decorating his face and he looked like he was in need of a haircut, strands of his dark brown hair falling into his eyes as he bent down to scold the mabari. All of his armor was missing as well, and the shield he carried on his back was battered and in desperate need of repairs. The leather was all but gone now, torn from parrying shields which revealed a chipped image underneath. She couldn't rightly make out what it was so didn't concern herself over much with it.
Solona was quick on his heels, and offered Kallian a hand up, apparently not recognizing the elf now that she wasn't covered in grime and utterly skeletal in appearance. "I'm so sorry!" The woman panted, also looking a bit travel weary and thin in the face, her expression extremely worried for the elf that Keran had tackled. "He doesn't usually do that." The mage looked like she'd dressed herself in men's clothing that was four sizes too big, the dark maroon tunic she was wearing falling very nearly to her knees and was held together at her waist by a worn leather belt. The overly long pants she wore had been rolled up to compensate for the length, revealing a flash of ankle when she walked over the low slippers that were entirely crused with mud. All in all, the two looked like they belonged out in the woods where society wouldn't be able to gawk at their haggard appearances.
Kallian sensed that Rido and Sticker were nearby; ready to leap into action if something started to go wrong. They all had weapons concealed on them, unable to bring the heftier long-knives along during broad daylight missions for fear that the guards would kill them on sight, but she knew that there would be no need to draw them. "By Andraste's blessed blistered feet! That's one hell of a welcome. I ain't never seen somebody so happy t'see me." She let the mage pull her to her feet, grinning at the astonished and very confused look on Solona's face as the mage tried to puzzle out where she'd seen the elf's face before.
"…Kallian?" She muttered, disbelieving that the healthy talkative elf standing in front of her was indeed the elf that she remembered saving from slavers. She'd put on a lot of weight since they'd seen her last, her lithe willowy body filled out to conceal the bones that had protruded so dangerously before. Her hair was relatively clean and pulled back into a thick braid, and her skin was still dark, but with a tan as opposed to with dirt and dried blood. Her clothes weren't quite as ragged either, and she'd outfitted herself with a good sturdy pair of boots and gloves that covered the silvery scars all over her wrists from her time in prison. Aedan studied the elf as well, hardly believing that they'd run into her again, or that she would be so changed.
Kallian laughed long and loudly, unable to help herself at the astonishment on their faces. "You two look like you've seen Andraste's Ghost! I thought you two were gone fer sure!" She punched Solona lightly on the shoulder, the mage finally cracking a smile for the first time. "I suppose this means ya took care of yer… problem?" She whispered, her voice dropping low so that Rido and Sticker wouldn't be able to hear her over the noise of the crowd.
A tight smile spread on Solona's face, and she nodded almost imperceptibly. "Yes. My pursuers have been… dealt with. Permanently." Aedan had walked closer, standing at Solona's side and quietly watching the conversation, his eyes not on Kallian but on the two elves standing a few feet behind her.
Looking over her shoulder, she realized a little belatedly that the two parties probably trusted each other about as far as they could be thrown. Not that she felt like opening up and telling all of her secrets to the mage or the warrior, but she at least knew that they were the good sort of folks that took out slaver cells. "Stop scowlin'. These are friends." She said to Rido and Sticker, and the two stopped their glaring but were still a bit wary. Others had started pausing to see what the commotion was about with them blocking traffic, and Kallian started to get itchy under the scrutiny. "Lets go talk somewhere a bit more quiet, unless you two go other places to be?"
"No, not really…" Solona replied with a bit of hesitation, looking up to Aedan, who didn't seem to disagree with her statement.
"Alright then. Follow me." Leading the way, Kallian trusted them to fall into line and follow her out of the main market. They didn't go very far, taking a turn around the Gnawed Noble tavern and heading to the back street near the warehouse and an older abandoned building that was rumored to house a band of assassin thugs on occasion. It was quieter back here away from the noise, and the guards didn't often patrol past the Noble unless they were on business. Which was very rarely these days.
"So…" She drawled, coming up to a halt in front of the warehouse. "Introductions now, so we can get all this awkward greetin' out of the way."
Solona took half a step forward and made a gracious incline of her head. "Solona Amell, nice to meet you."
Kallian wrinkled her nose at the name, having thought that it was too lengthy the first time that she'd heard it without adding on a family name. Aedan introduced himself and his dog using as many monosyllabic words as he could, and Rido and Sticker were likewise eager to speak as little as possible. Rolling her eyes, Kallian only barely resisted swatting someone on the head.
"Mind if I call you Ammy from now on?" Kallian asked, but didn't really wait for Solona to reply before plowing on, allowing her only enough time to blink in a confused way at the nickname. "Anyway, Aedan, you still interested in the estate?" She noted that the warrior stiffened momentarily at the mention, but Rido and Sticker didn't seem at all affected by the question.
"Of course." The warrior replied slowly, trying to guess the elf's game before she could maneuver him into whatever trap she was planning on springing.
Kallian couldn't help but to grin at how cautious he was. "Well, good. Because we're interested in it too." She gestured to herself and her two fellow elves, both of them nodding a bit in confirmation, though Sticker did so much less enthusiastically than Rido. "I wanna work out a deal with you. We all wanna get into the place, but there's a hitch. I know the way in an' around, an' I'd be willin' to play tour guide fer you. But I got this itchy feelin' that things ain't going to be exactly diplomatic, catch my drift?"
Aedan picked up on her meaning immediately, not having to try very hard to realize precisely what it was that the elf was getting at. "You need back up." There was something in his voice that immediately made Kallian wary of the big human, sensing that he wasn't in the least bit happy with the idea of running with a pack of elves.
Playing for nonchalant, Kallian shrugged. "I was lookin' fer someone to train my people, but if it's against yer mighty shem principles to teach a bunch of knife-ears how to fight, then forget I said anything." Rido and Sticker tensed up at the use of her slang for their race, and she saw that Solona seemed a bit stricken by it as well.
Aedan raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to imply such a thing." Though he didn't sound very apologetic, but more… diplomatic and business-like. "If that is the cost, then I will pay it. I'll teach anyone how to fight if you bring them to me."
Kallain nodded, glad that she got the result she wanted but still feeling a little tense about it. "Alright, then it's a deal. Where are the two of you stayin'? The Foamin' Fishwife again?"
Solona shook her head, biting her lip and twisting her hands in an unconsciously nervous gesture. "We just got into the city. We, uh…"
"We were hoping to find a job on the Chanter's Board." Aedan supplied where Solona faltered, the mage looking just a little more distraught than was perhaps necessary. "But it seems that everything has been taken already."
Kallian couldn't help the snort that issued forth. "Yeah, probably won't be full again fer a while." She waved her hand in dismissal when Aedan looked like he wanted more information on the matter, but she was content to not have to explain herself for the time being. "Well, luckily for the two…three of you-" she looked down at Keran, who huffed happily at being included in the head count "-happen to know a very well connected elf. I can hook ya up with a place, if you're not too concerned 'bout cobwebs. An' rent is free."
Aedan looked cautious about accepting the offer, but Solona smiled, the relief clear on her face. "As long as there isn't a hole in the ceiling directly above where I sleep, I'd be more than content with free housing."
"Good, I like it when people are easy to please." Nodding, she pointed back toward the marketplace, indicating the direction to go. "Follow me."
AN: The nerve of some of these elves. Am I right? Anyway, glad to have Kallian back in the picture, and I hope you are too. Obviously, she's been busy while Aedan and Solona were on their extended camping trip. For anybody that's curious, this was the first time that the Grey Warden fellowship had come to Denerim looking for the Brother on the Sacred Ashes Quest. For anyone that didn't care, ignore that last sentence. Thanks to everyone that's been commenting and dropping by to check stuff out. I really appreciate it!
