All characters belong to their perspective owners no ownership is claimed or implied for
non-original characters.

Special thanks go to Davner, Cavis, Incantrix, Sethra_Lavode, the Total Anime Nut,
Zervon, and Fish_Stomp for their help on this fic.

Timing Note: This fic takes place as Senritsuko and friends are traveling from Sairag 4
to Sairoon.

Twin Perspectives

Interlude: Thief's Perspective, Part 1

By: STRIKESTWICE@hotmail.com

The thief paused on the terrace of the tower, looking into the room below.
Casually, she adjusted her mask, as her eyes glowed with glee at the seemingly
unprotected Sairoon Family Royal Jewels. Knowing better then to trust appearances, the
girl reached into her backpack and pulled out a night scope. She carefully focused the
magical device checking every corner of the tower for guards. The room still remained
empty of occupants. Next she turned a knob on the magical device changing the function
of the scope and almost whistled, as magical defenses suddenly became visible. Red
bands of light traced the room in every direction, creating a web of magical detectors.

Down below her the only door into the tower opened and a guard walked slowly
into the room. He circled the crown once, humming to himself, before exiting the room
again.

The thief pushed a button on her pocket watch and became a flurry of action. The
girl put her night scope back into her bag and pulled out a glass cutter. The window
quickly fell to her ministrations, allowing the thief entrance to the tower. Taking out a
cloth bag from her backpack, she dumped its contents into the room spreading a thick fog
of dust that outlined all of the magical defenses. She replaced the bag and pulled out a
grapple gun bracing herself against a wall, she shot the grapple into the opposite wall,
creating a faint "tink" sound as it firmly attached itself to the other side. Carefully, she
tied her own side of the rope to the window's railing. A special pulley, one of the few
items remaining in her bag, was set on the fine wire of the grapple and then with a
"click" she secured a safety line to herself. Using both of her feet she pushed off the
ledge and out into mid air. The rope dipped alarmingly, as if the weight of the girl was
much more then her small appearance would suggest, but held solid. Hand over hand,
dangling from the pulley, the girl moved out over the room trying to find a spot to lower
herself from without tripping the beams of magical red light. Finally, she located the
perfect spot and pushed a button. The winch above her slowly lowered the safety line,
allowing her to descend down into the maze of lights.

The thief, took the time to glance nervously at her pocket watch, only four more
minutes until the guard was supposed to return if the schedule she had checked for the
last two days held true.

The descent after a long minute ended, leaving her dangling mere inches from the
glass container, that held the royal crown of Sairoon. She carefully pulled out her glass
cutter from her belt again, moving slowly to make sure she didn't start rocking, and trip a
security device.

The only door into the tower burst open as light spilled into the room. Framed in
the light, Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Sairoon looked disappointedly at the thief.

"Sawa, what are you doing? I thought we had agreed that you would stop this."

"But mom."

"No buts, young lady, your grounded for one week." The co-ruler of Sairoon
motioned to the captain of the guards standing behind her. "Captain confiscate those
things and post two guards on her."

"But mom," the captain looked at his ruler one time and then slowly approached
the glowering princes.

"Sawa, I want you to think on this, you belong to the family of justice and
goodness, we are not some... some...." The princess at a loss for words, turned away
from her dangling daughter, not noticing the tongue her daughter stuck out at her
retreating back.

***

The door to Sawa's room burst open followed by her mother, the Princess
Amelia, and two out of her best guards.

"I don't know how you did it Sawa, but this is the last straw, give back the crown,
NOW!"

The younger princess blinked the sleep from her eyes and sat up in her bed.
Grabbing up one of the blankets on the bed, she held it up to her chest to hide her
nightgown. "Huh?" She asked her mother.

"Don't you, huh, me young lady. Where is the crown?" Sawa fuzzily rose from
the bed, taking the blanket with her, trying to figure out what her mother was going on
about.

"I don't know what your talking about, mom."

"Sawa Yuri Lina Seiroon, don't you lie to me. We are hero's of justice and
justice never lies."

"Mom, I didn't steal anything. I went to bed last night."

"Honey, don't make me find your father."

"Mom, are you even listening to me."

"Young lady, don't you take that tone of voice with me."

Sawa paused for a second, and then threw her blanket at the two guards. The girl
jumped out the third story window of the tower catching onto a cable. She had placed
the line conveniently there months before and slid down into the court yard, her night
gown fluttering in the wind, and giving a great show to the pair of white magicians
standing guard on the ground. Sawa grunted as she hit the ground hard and rolled with
the forward momentum.

"You get back here right now, Sawa!" Amelia yelled from the tower as her
daughter sprinted towards the front gate. "Stop her," the reigning princess yelled at the
pair of dumbfounded gatekeepers who paused and then started closing the two wooden
doors. Sawa with out even breaking stride, ran through the gate thanking her lucky stars
that she had the foresight to make sure the guards had owed her a large enough favor to
let her slip by, rather then tackling her in some actual attempt to stop her escape.

Sawa ran into the town dodging through randomly alleyways until she was sure
that she had lost any pursuers. Catching her breath she regained her bearings and then
started walking toward the seedier part of the White Magic City of Sairoon. Not that
Sairoon actually had a true seedier part of town, gangs, or even a thief's guild; the town
was remarkably free of anything vaguely close to a criminal element. But, it did have
one almost shady bar.

The bar in question was a ramshackle affair sitting in-between a guard station and
a chapel. Both government buildings had not been there when the inn was originally
purchased and converted from a boarding house. It was the normal way of Sairoon to
remove undesirable elements. Surprisingly though, the bar had still prospered.

"The Smiling Priestess" was empty when Sawa snuck in the back door and waved
politely to Bob, the only cook, as he slaughtered a rat and then threw it on the stove. The
big man grunted politely and went back to chewing on his mouth full of gristle.

Sawa ran up the back stairs and into the hallway connecting the inn's rooms
together. Making sure the hall was empty; she hurriedly pulled out a key from around
her neck and dodged into the closest room. Locking the door behind her she flopped
down on the surprisingly clean bed and stared up at the ceiling.

The princess, finally with the time to sort out her feelings, tried to decide what
she was feeling. Mainly irritated, someone had stolen her thunder, the one goal she had
trained her entire life to accomplish and someone had beat her to it. Not to mention that
now she was being accused of crime she had never successfully committed even after
over a dozen tries. She sighed and turned on her side starring at the off white wall.

Someone knocked on the door, two raps and then a single one. "C'mon in,
Kakara." A key rattled in the lock and then the door opened revealing a tall woman with
long brown hair and dark eyes, who flowed more then walked in her long dress. Kakara
the owner of "The Smiling Priestess" and ex-priestess herself before a rather nasty
incident that she hadn't even told Sawa about.

"Hey lover, how's it going. I heard you finally scored the goal." Sawa sighed and
rolled her eyes starring at the bar's owner. The tall women flowed around the room in the
revealing black dress that accented her classic figure.

"I didn't steal it, Kakara," the innkeeper blinked at her in surprise.

"But it's all over that you grabbed the crown. Supposedly they found part of your
kit at the location, even one of your night hairs on the crown's pillow." The woman sat
down next to the princess, making the old but clean bed creak.

"Someone is setting me up." Sawa said, looking at her pale hands. "Have you
heard anything interesting on the street."

"Well rumor has it someone is trying to form a thieves guild, but c'mon you know
how hard it would be for someone to organize something like that in Sairoon." The
ex-priestess picked at something between her teeth. "There have also been a couple of
new faces around the bar lately, toughs, too. Bastards, tried to start a fight two nights
ago, armed. You know me I don't mind a good brawl but no one tries to shank someone
in my bar, without my permission, that is, bad for business."

"Any chance you can hook me up with the person trying to start the guild."

"Yah, but not during the day, sometime tonight, better that way for you too,
lover." She paused, "by the time this day is over, every bounty hunter in the city is going
to be looking for you, better for you if you turn yourself in and try to straighten this thing
out that way."

"I would but dad is out adventuring again and its mom's turn to watch the house."
Sawa paused, "which means, I'm screwed!" She flopped back onto the bed narrowly
missing the wall and gazed up at the gray ceiling and a spider web. "Crap, well can you
get me a tool kit and a disguise in the mean time."

"Well love, I hate to bring this up at such a time but you seem a little financially
strapped, and well business hasn't been that great lately since a pair of my old class
mates started hanging around preaching to whoever tries to enter the bar. It's rather
difficult to run a house of ill repute in this city on the best of days. Well that is with out a
few things going on the side."

"Okay, okay I got you." Sawa reached up into her hair and removed a long
golden needle. "This is just collateral, you got me. I'll want it back."

Kakara took the needle studied it for a second and then made it disappear into her
dress. "You know your word is always good here, love." She smiled at the princess.

Sawa sighed again.

"I'll get you the tool kit and.." Downstairs a table turned over and someone
yelled. "Hold on, don't move." The bar owner ran out the door and down the hall, with
in seconds she returned. "Bad news love, it's the guard. I guess you got predictable, use
the high way and meet me in the other place." She ran out the door again as Sawa locked
the door behind her and then ran to the other side of the room and looked out the
window. A long laundry line hung too conveniently from the side of the building
connecting it to the roof of the church across the alleyway.

Sawa grabbed the sash on the room's curtain and used it as a belt to try to hold
her nightgown from exposing too much to anyone below on the street. Five more
minutes, just five more minutes and she could have had a chance to change to something
a little less revealing. She cursed inwardly at the cruel inhumanity of her life.

She pushed the windows open and jumped onto the line balancing precarious on
the small but sturdy rope. Below her someone yelled and Sawa tried not to blush at the
thought of the view she was giving those below her as she ran across the rope. She
lightly jumped onto the roof of the church, in time to see a pair of white mages from the
guard begin levitating up after her. Not looking back she charged down the roof and
jumped across the gap between buildings onto the next roof. Behind her the two flying
mages failed to even slow as they changed direction and charged after her. Before her
another larger gap loomed, in-between the gap a dozen laundry lines stretched across the
alleyway full of today's wash. Gathering up one of the lines in her hand, she untied the
side closest to her and then swung out across the alleyway. In the span of a heartbeat she
swung across the gap until she collided feet first into the opposite wall. Using what
remained of the rope she repelled down the side of the far wall. Ten feet from the ground
she let go of the rope and dropped onto the ground. Not missing a step, she ran out the
far side of the alleyway and out into her city.

***

Sawa stared down at the ground, listening to the breeze push the large bells in the
chapel behind her. A pigeon squeaked angrily above her, disturbed by the human daring
to invade its space. Below her the city continued on its end of day bustle, as the normal
people who were its life blood went on with their lives never bothering to look up or for
that matter around them at the beauty that was life. She turned her gaze to the sun slowly
setting below the mountains. It's light bathing the world with a soft red that was slowly
changing to darkness.

The princess put her hand up in front of her face blocking out the last little bit of
the bright orb. The pale hands of a princess slowly turned to the hard gray of stone as the
sun lost its battle to time and finally finished its daily performance. Sawa sighed and
flexed her new hand, always amazed that it felt the same even though it was now made
out of rock. Somewhere out their, her father was regaining his humanity for the night as
she lost hers.

Sawa ran a hand through her hair carefully fingering her remaining two hairpins
as they wound inside her sharp gray hair. She wondered again, for the hundredth time, if
her children would also have this curse. With a sigh, she stood up. It was time to go to
work. She left her high perch slowly descending down into the city of her birth.

***

The streets were surprisingly empty for so early in the night as Sawa jogged down
one alleyway and then another, avoiding the main roads. She finally reached the new
city. The area of Sairoon that had been destroyed by her Aunt Lina a number of years
ago and then rebuilt as a high-class section of town. In the center of this new city stood a
little memorial park, an unlikely place for someone on the run to ever meet up with
anyone.

The princess circled the park once looking for anything out of place, and
checking her normal exit routes. Caution appeased, she slunk into the park towards the
small fishing pond. The girl reached the pond, without anyone seeing her and quickly
climbed one of the nearby trees. Preparing to wait for Kakara, she nestled down in the
crook of the tree only to see a pair of people move in the shadows to her right.

Sawa blinked trying to focus her eyes correctly to see movement from shadow.
Another group of two moved to her right. The princess stopped breathing for a second,
Kakara had sold her out. It must have been her mom, nothing less would have gotten the
woman to talk.

The girl wished once again that she had her tool kit, before slowly raising her self
to a crouch on the limb. Time was against her now, even if they hadn't seen where she
had gone, sooner or later they would figure it out and Sairoon guardsman were some of
the best trained anywhere.

She saw another team of two approach her from the left, raising the count to three
groups and leaving her without any time to spare. A third group walked through the
brush, not bothering to hide their approach towards her. She waited patiently until a pair
of searchers were directly below her and then she dropped. Three times what she should
have weighed, suddenly landed on the searchers.

Knees bent, Sawa absorbing the impact and sprinted off, as the two beneath her
groaned. The girl reached up into her hair and unthreaded her remaining two golden
hairpins from her sharp hair. One small needle grasped in each hand, she ran away from
the next group of guards.

Before her darkness loomed, one of the three emergency escape routes she had
used before in the park. A large drainage pipe connecting to the lake in case of flooding.

Sawa leaped down from the bank and into the pipe running across a thin layer of
mud and pond scum. She was forced to slow down as the darkness enveloped her,
leaving her alone in the echoing tunnel. Cautiously, she pushed the needles back into her
hair afraid that if she tripped, she might lose them in the darkness. Her right hand in
front of her, the princess felt for obstructions and with her left, she lightly touched the
wall. Sawa slowly walked down the dark tunnel. Behind her it remained strangely silent,
with no revealing light. Either they hadn't seen her go in here or were unwilling to
follow.

After a seemingly endless time filled with darkness, a light appeared in front of
the girl. A single lamp held at what would be chest level for most people. Sawa once
again extracted her needles and slowed down even more, walking into the shadows cast
by the lantern and quietly attempted to move closer to the light. In front of her the light
shifted, the lantern rocking back and forth. Sawa paused, to the point of almost not
breathing, hoping that the shadows were effectively cloaking her. The stillness continued
for a long minute, the slow dripping of water the only sound. Sawa finally moved, her
slow careful walk on the green algae almost soundless. She finally came close enough
to see more then the outline of the light, only to notice that their was no one there. She
paused, listening, when a hard cold metal touched her throat.

"Took you long enough, love." Kakara said, releasing Sawa and handing the girl
her missing hairpin. Sawa let out a long breath.

"Sephied, you scared me. Damn it, you set me up."

"Sorry love, but your mom had a little leverage on me. Any ways, your too good
to be caught by some city guards." The innkeeper had changed during the day to a dark
formfitting set of leathers, a hood covered her hair and a mask rested lightly on her neck.
The clothing hid most of her light skin, making her almost one with the darkness.

"You owe me." In response Kakara handed Sawa her tool belt. "Okay, you owe
me a little."

"I also found out where those new toughs are staying, if we hurry we still have
enough night left to go find out if their the ones that took the crown."

"Lets go then."

"What would you do with out me?"

"I'm still mad at you."

"We can stop off for something to eat and a change of clothes before we go play,
love." The brunet said smiling at the princess.

"Deal!"

***

An hour later, clean, full, and properly attired Sawa stood on the top of a
warehouse, watching a single guard across the street. Beside her Kakara studied the
building with her.

"I only see one room with a light," she told Sawa. "We go in, we see if they have
the item, or if there appears to be anything suspicious. In either case we let it slip to the
guard, and a problem is removed."

"Do all of your plans involve telling the guard?"

"For the last time, I'm sorry, love, and this is the best plan. Unless you suddenly
became a great magician or swordswoman." She paused giving the princess a chance to
reply. "In that case I want to live through tonight, love."

"Good point, shall we go?" Without waiting for an answer Sawa took off running
across the roofs circling the street until a high enough ledge allowed her to jump across
to a building on the other side of the street. She slowed her run, until she was once again,
quietly moving towards the warehouse the gang had taken up residence in. She finally
jumped across another small gap and onto the tough's warehouse. The princess slowly
slid up to a convenient vent. Next to her Kakara, looked inquiringly at her in the
moonlight as Sawa pulled a screwdriver out of her tool belt and quickly removed the
screen. Reaching around she removed her backpack and pulled out a thin rope and a
repelling harness. She passed one end to Kakara who tied it securely to another nearby
vent as Sawa fastened herself to the harness.

Sawa, rear first, slowly walked to the side of the vent. Her toes, the only thing on
the ledge, and then with one breath she slowly slid over. The girl descend into the
darkness until she saw a rafter to stand on, swinging slightly to change her position in the
air she landed gracefully on the beam. Peering through the dim light she could finally
get a basic idea of how the warehouse was set up. Below her, boxes and boxes of junk
filled the room. Off to one side a small office, without a roof was the only lit location.
Next to the office stood another smaller dark room. Sawa paused studying her
surroundings as Kakara finally tapped her on the shoulder. Together the two women
carefully walked along the rafters until they were over the lit office.

Below them two men sat in the office. The pair were rather large, muscular men,
both in their late twenties or mid thirties and both were armed with long and very
dangerous looking swords. Neither man talked to the other, one sat in a corner reading a
newspaper and the other at a desk playing a game of solitaire. Sawa blinked at them
once and then ignored them as she slowly walked over to see what was in the other room.
In there the darkness enveloped the room, except for a small light given off by the one
crate sitting by itself in the center of the room. Behind her, Kakara tapped Sawa and
pointed at the crate. With nothing better to try the girl grabbed another rope out of her
backpack and hand over hand climbed down into the empty room. Kakara not a foot
behind, almost as one they set foot on the ground.

Sawa quietly crept over to the box examining it and the strange glow. Behind her
Kakara circled around the box until she stood on it's far side. Then in a fluid movement
the barkeeper raised the box allowing the light leak out. Inside a small stone shone in the
center of a red cushion. In a fluid movement Kakara grabbed the crystal and put it in her
pocket.

Sawa frowned at the woman. "Put that back." She whispered to Kakara. The bar
owner stared at her for a second like she was insane.

"Love, what are you talking about we got the prize, lets go."

Behind her the door opened letting in a crack of light. Sawa tried to turn around
as someone side stroked her with a sword. The blade bounced off of Sawa skin but the
momentum flung her across the room and into a wall. For a second, bright lights flashed
in front of her eyes, and then her vision cleared. In front of her one of the toughs reeled
back to take a huge swing at Kakara who had been backed into a corner. Without
thinking Sawa reached into her hair and pulled out one of her pins flinging it as hard as
she could at the man. The pin flew through the air burying itself into the man's neck.
Kakara used his distraction to slam the guy's hand grabbing up his sword and flinging it
with all her might into the other man, the sword went end over end until the hilt crashed
into the man's head. The man staggered back and fell to the floor. Sawa picked herself
up from the ground as Kakara moved over to the tough that Sawa had downed. She
rolled him half over, enough to removed Sawa's dart.

The bar owner looked up from the man and whispered just faintly enough for
Princess Sawa of the kingdom of Sairoon, the kingdom of white magic, to hear. "He's
dead, love."

***

Send all complaints to STRIKESTWICE@hotmail.com