It was only a few hours before sunrise when Kira stepped into the apartment building. Everything had gone very smooth. If only every job was this easy. Then again, she corrected herself; this hadn't really been a job. She hadn't gone after anything that was worth money. The fact that she had relieved the lord of the mansion from a few valuable was just…. a stroke of good luck. On her side anyway. No, the household probably had no reason to suspect that there had been anything worth stealing in that study. So security had been easy. The whole thing might prove an interesting subject for a discussion.
She shook her head to clear her mind of thought and climbed the stairs to the small apartment where she lived with her father. She searched around her pockets to find the key and when she had found it she opened the door. She stepped inside and locked the door behind her. It felt good to back home. She hung her key on a little hook besides the door and very quietly she left the hallway and entered her own room, closing the door behind her quietly. She didn't know whether her father was awake or a sleep but either way it wasn't a very good idea to alert him of her presence. Though it was not uncommon for her to go out on her own she knew that he didn't appreciate it very much.
Once the door was closed she turned around and walked toward her closet. Her room wasn't very big. There was just enough room to fit in a bed, a single closet and a sink but it served its purpose. The only thing she did he was sleep or change anyway. When she reached the closet she pulled it open and started to get rid of her equipment. She took of her bow and quiver as well as the black bag, which held her new possessions. She set both her bow and quiver in the closet but kicked her bag underneath her bed, stopping long enough to fish out the important piece of paper she had collected.
The black cloak came off revealing a sturdy black, leather armour underneath. She undid the buckles and after a little fiddling the armour came off as well. Underneath she wore a simple black tunic and black, woollen stockings. She undid the buckle of her belt and checked it to see if everything was still there. The three lockpicks, her curved evil looking dagger and a small pouch were all still present. The cloak, armour and belt also disappeared into the closet and then she shut the closet.
After that she sat down on her bed and took off her boots. She removed a small dagger from each boot and put the daggers and the boots underneath her bed. She yawned deeply and took off the rest of her clothing, switching it for a simple, white nightgown. Her clothing disappeared under her bed as well and she slid underneath the covers on her bed. She pushed the piece of paper underneath her pillow and then lay down, resting her head on that same pillow. She yawned again and closed her eyes, drifting of to sleep almost instantly.
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It couldn't have been more then a few hours later when she was woken by a rapt knock on her door. She grunted loudly and pulled the covers over her head, unwilling to acknowledge the knock and very eager to go back to sleep. Another knock on the door disturbed her current line of thought. How would she be able to go back to sleep if the knocking continued? She needed complete and absolute silence to fall asleep. Another knock on the door was followed by a voice. "Kira, I know you're in there".
She grunted again and she gripped her covers very tightly as if she was afraid that someone would pull them off her. Not now, she found herself thinking. Please give me a few more hours of sleep. Of course that request could not be granted. There was another knock on the door. "Kira, I know…-". "..You can hear me, yes father," she shouted, finishing the sentence for him. "I can hear you just fine. Now leave me alone". Even this didn't work. A creaking noise told her that he had opened the door instead of leaving her alone. Underneath the blankets Kira fought to open her eyes. Her eyelids had grown heavy due to lack of sleep and she could only manage to open her eyes as small slits.
She crawled out from underneath her covers and sat up in bed to face her father. He was standing in the door opening with an air of calm fury surrounding him. She knew that these situations frustrated him more then a little. He couldn't tell her off for sneaking off because he did the same thing and most of his arguments didn't reach beyond 'but I am your father' which she would efficiently counter with 'but I am twenty years old'.
"I want to have a word with you" he told her once she was sitting up. "Yes father, I know you do. But could this possibly wait till later? I would really like to get some more sleep" she replied. He smirked smugly and turned around on his heel, leaving her door opening. "I'll give you one minute to get out of bed Kira" he called. Kira scowled at the now empty door opening and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Bleedin' burrick" she swore and reached underneath her bed for her clothing.
Dawn had already broken and sunlight was flooding over the wooden floor through the small window in her room. She guessed that she had had about four hours of sleep before her father decided that it was time for her to wake up. She pulled the piece of paper our from under her pillow and stuck it in her back pocket. She yawned deeply and left her bedroom behind her, with more then a few feelings of regret.
The living room of the apartment was small and crude. Kira wasn't even sure if the term living room was appropriate. Two chairs and a small table stood along the wall. Other then that there was a single bookcase, a cupboard and a small fireplace. Then again, it wasn't like she and her father spent a lot of time at home. The kitchen bordered the living room but it was even smaller. A few cupboards, a sink and a gas plate was what made up the kitchen.
Her father was sitting in one of the chairs and was clearly expecting her to do the same. For a moment she considered going into the kitchen and get herself some breakfast before sitting down but she gave in with a silent sigh. He was probably mad enough already. It hadn't been that long ago that they'd hated each other and in all honesty, she rather liked this new arrangement they had. It was better not to risk anything over something silly.
She walked over to the table and flopped down in the only free chair there. She sighed again. "Alright father. Let's get this over with. But I can assure you that I had a perfectly good reason to go out last night" she said. Like that she cut off any threads or accusations he might have thrown at her otherwise. "Convince me" he said simply. The magical words that Kira had been waiting for.
"The day before yesterday I received word from Bruce that he wanted to meet with me. He said he had some interesting news to share with me. You remember Bruce right?" she asked. Her father nodded. "The son of Bloody Barry". Kira nodded. "Yes. He told me to meet him in The Crippled Burrick at sundown yesterday evening so I did that" she continued. "Which is why you sneaked out" he said dryly. "I fail to see the use of it". "Give me the time to finish" she snapped and glared at him. "Anyway, it turned out that Bruce has some very interesting information for me. Lord Malford had ordered a dagger from his father a few weeks ago and upon completion of that dagger Barry had asked Bruce to deliver it to him. At the time of delivery Lord Malford was in his study so Bruce was escorted there to deliver the dagger. He told me that he noticed something very interesting lying on the desk in that study. He said that Malford probably didn't consider it of any value because it was just lying there. And he wouldn't tell me what it was exactly so…" her voice trailed off. "So you had to find out what it was" he finished for her. She nodded slowly. "And why wouldn't Bruce tell you what it was he saw" he asked. Kira shrugged. "He's odd like that sometimes" she explained. Her father shook his head. "At least tell me that what he was right. There was something interesting in that study I hope" he said.
Kira grinned broadly and pulled the piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him. "See for yourself" she said. He narrowed his eyes slightly and took it from her. He folded it open and his eyes trailed over the strange markings, a look on incomprehension on his face. Until his eyes found the image on the paper. She smirked as she saw the surprise she had felt upon seeing the image spread across his face. "Interesting" he said after a few moments. "I've never been able to find anything about it, though it did look for a while after that little mission". Kira shuddered. She avoided thinking about that as best as she could. "Though I can't make out what it says" he continued. "Me neither" she admitted. "But it looks like it's a page that he ripped from a book. It might be a good idea to find out what book it came from". He seemed to be considering that. "Perhaps" he gave in grudgingly.
Kira held out her hand for her page and he handed it back to her. She folded it again and put it back in her pocket. "All right Kira" he said. "I'll admit that it's interesting enough. Did you pick up anything besides that page?". She nodded. "Of course I did father" she said, feeling a little hurt. "Don't give me that" he said impatiently. "Go fence it". She nodded submissively. "Father?" she asked. "Hm?" came the reply. "What about that page?" she asked. He sighed deeply. "We'll see Kira. For now let's just accept that it's interesting. Even if it means anything there is most likely no profit there. We already stole it once. What's the use of doing it again?"