"You're in over your head. I know what I said hurts but it's the only correct answer."
"Shut up."
The spirit constantly reminding her host that her skills were inadequate Dawn ignored her companion the entire time till now.
It was a Friday so most stores stayed open longer than normal leaving workers of it late to close down. Going around the streets were Ash usually did his rounds around nightclubs the lights casted enough shadows for her to hide in. The streets mostly empty there still were a few people walking around like it's none of their business and just wanted to have a fun night.
She sat in the shadows taking a break. Dawn saw her destination from her resting place towering over her and took one final break to collect her thoughts and calm herself down.
"You sure? You're not…"
"Just shut up!" Dawn yelled at Umbreon. Having caught her breath Dawn went further and further till she was where she wanted to be.
Dawn couldn't help it. Against all of her better judgement, Umbreon's warnings and her mother pleading to not go and enact the plan she made for herself, for Dawn to stay home safe with a bucket of ice cream watching her favorite series on TV, the girl went out anyway with Umbreon who the whole way was putting her down at her idea.
Standing over across her destination Dawn knew she would jump in head first without an opportunity to go back. Seeing the large building towering for about forty floors she wasn't deterred by the sheer scale of it. What's inside was more reason to worry about then whatever the exterior might provide.
Her plan was to sneak into the hotel the shaolin and his crew who closed her school without government permission were staying. Apparently according to the news and various social media an entire floor was rented by the government of the country he came from and nobody but them was allowed on it. Even the hotel staff that normally cleaned the rooms were denied access to it.
Dawn's plan? To discover if the glow that was mentioned by the translators was actually the blue light her friends possessed. She had no idea where to look for starters but when it came to sneaking around she was already better than the rest of her friends. If they weren't going to let her fight she'll just go behind their backs doing something that did not involve throwing fists.
"I'm here to sneak into that hotel and nobody is going to stop me!"
With her resolve set and the sky dark Dawn was going to prove to anyone who doubted her she's good enough. Watching from over the roof the distance over the street to the hotel was too big for her to leap over. Without aura or Glaceon's ability to create ice spikes to vault herself up she would go for a way inside more in tune with her talents.
She saw a large sign with a P pointing to the hotel. Following it's direction she leaped off the building she was on and made a deliberate detour so she stuck to the roofs and got into a better spot to sneak into the garage. Seeing a tollbooth for people who wanted to stay at the hotel she was glad it was something that reminded her of the night in the docks when she snuck in.
A booth with a lever was in place where three guards were monitoring camera's and the road. Dawn jumped off the building she was on and landed on the booth. Making sure her landing was loud enough to draw attention she figured she can use that distraction to slip by unnoticed.
Staying invisible in the dark spots of the garage using the cars for cover she snuck from car to car until she stumbled onto an elevator with a staircase next to it.
"Think Dawn. How are you gonna get in there without popping out?" Her first major obstacle before her it be a waste if her efforts so far were done after not even reaching the first floor. Being around cars it gave her an idea. All pf them must be armed with an anti theft alarm so if she can trigger one away from the elevator it should give her time to call it and step in.
Seeing which car she can activate the alarms in her red eyes fell on a black limo. Reading and recognizing it as a foreign license plate she knew it was from the nation the shaolin and his staff were from. If she can damage the vehicles from them it might cause some of the floor she was aiming for to come down if the staff was told to inform any damages to their property.
"It's what they deserve." Dawn having no issue with destroying some of their property tried to see if she could use something to throw at it. Having nothing to throw yet she peeled around to the car tires she was hiding next too. Seeing pebbles stick out of the tire thread she peeled them off the tire with her nails as gently she could, then gathered a handful of pebbles to throw.
Throwing it as hard as she could at the targeted car front window with all her strength the pebbles smashed and got stuck into the car door. The alarm sounding off rom the vehicle as expected guards came looking for the disturbance. Her eyes fixed on the elevator she saw the display on it decrease in number.
"18, 17, 16…" Counting down the floors the display gave till it reached the floor she was on multiple men came out in black suits going to the car she threw the rocks at. She felt sorry for the people in the garage but sprinted to the elevator when she was sure everyone's attention was on the car.
Pressing the button she quickly stepped in the elevator. Pressing the button for the top floor and the button to close the doors Dawn looked up at the ceiling as the box began to transport her up. Having seen enough movies she took the old fashioned idea of climbing out of the elevator and sitting on the box that transported people. Being in luck she did just that removing the cover on the ceiling. She wasn't going to sneak through the halls of the 28th floor without knowing how much light was in there.
The elevator stopped moving as it reached the upper floor. Quickly looking around for a way out of the shaft Dawn saw a plate above her which was different in color.
"That must be a maintenance hatch." Her hands reaching to it the hatch was shut. Crouching down she leaped up and with an upwards kick the hatch shot open. Feeling the elevator below her move again she quickly jumped up before it went down again.
Dawn saw the clear sky on top of the hotel now. Being on the roof is what she was after. Seeing the lights all around the city she felt relieved. After getting far in such a scenario Dawn felt pretty smug and lectured the spirit about the lack of faith in her abilities.
"Am I ready now!?" Boasting that Umbreon was wrong about her the spirit finally talked back.
"You haven't even gotten what you came for." Telling her not to be too confident yet Umbreon's experience in the art of stealth was used to better. Her host took it as a challenge.
"Watch this!"
Without fear Dawn ran from her spot to the ledge on top of the roof. She leaped off the hotel over the edge and landed to the small ledges on the side of the building on the top floor. She agilely dropped down another keeping a firm grip on the ledges as she descended counting down the floors as she aimed the for the 28th floor.
Her mind drifted back to when she saw May on top of the crane. It took too long for her to figure out how to get down using her physical skills alone. Since then she'd be imagining and perfecting her movements in Lila's gym pushing herself to move in ways she never thought possible. Needing to think outside the laws of nature she had to ignore danger like a slip up or a fall.
Dawn stood on the edge of the building next to a window that led into a room. Her back against the wall she pushed herself up against it. She felt the ledge shake beneath her feet but refused to look down adjusting her footing.
Peeking around the corner of the window she saw a large bald round man in a black suit sitting on a couch fully occupying it himself watching TV. His size unlike anything Dawn had ever seen it looked like she could fit about five times into him and it's a miracle he even squeezed his frame through the door.
"HE'S MASSIVE! How did he get up here!? Just what is the weight limit on these elevators!?" He certainly didn't use the stairs she was certain off.
"That might be his bodyguard. On the bright side his shadow is so large that you'll have no trouble hiding in it."
"Oh now you're suddenly in the mood!" Dawn calling her out frustrated that Umbreon only started to talk to her now.
"Just seem you can use the help. Distract him and try the balcony."
She figured her host deserved a break after getting so far. Too late to turn back now anyway. She pointed her host over to a small balcony out to her left. The curtains in front of the large windows closed Dawn kept thinking about a way to get inside without getting spotted. Using her finger she tapped on the window with the idea to deceive the large man inside to check out what kind of bird was tapping on it.
Feeling the ledge shake under her she raced to the balcony. The large man was probably stumbling his way to the window so she took her change. Peeking through the curtains on the large glass windows that led to the balcony, seeing that the room is empty because of her distraction she tried to slide the door open.
"Locked. Now what?"
"How good is your bird impression?" Umbreon suggested once more which Dawn took as a poor joke. With no better alternative she listened anyway. She jumped off the balcony and latched on to the ledge with both her hands.
"AW! AW!" Dawn pretended to be an eagle. It's a species not common here unlike pigeons which nobody would bat an eye for.
"That's terrible."Umbreon heard better. It seemed to work though as the large man opened the curtains to look. Dawn did her 'impression' again trying to lure him out. This time it worked as she heard the door slide open. While hanging on Dawn shimmied to the side of the balcony. Vaulting upwards she bended her forwards making her land on her feet softly. Sneaking in the apartment behind his large back she quickly looked for a dark corner to hide in.
The room well lit she moved as fast as she could to a door that was ajar slightly. Closing the door as quiet as she could she was now in the bedroom of the hotel room.
"There has to be something in here." Looking in the dark that's now her ally she found it difficult to read things and watch her footing not to bump into anything that might alert the large male. The room had a large double bed with decorations she did not expect. Two nightstands were fitted with scrolls and sticks that gave off a weird odor which reminded Dawn of scented candles her mom sometimes lit.
"If I know anything about these people is that scrolls are sacred. Take a look." She walked to the scroll and took it from the stand. It was impossible to read wishing for a little more light.
The lights turned on leaving her silhouette no longer invisible. Hearing someone scream words she could not understand Dawn turned round fast.
"Me and my big mouth!"
Clutching the scroll in her hands Dawn was starting to panic as the large man shouted words she did not understand while stomping angrily on the floor feeling the room shake.
Cracking his knuckles he stormed at her. Deceptively fast and making his frame as large as possible Dawn baseball slid between his legs and ran to the balcony she entered the room from. She latched on to the edge of the building and with only use of one hand made her way down. Eventually reaching a floor she knew she can jump off of without breaking her legs she leaped onto a passing truck.
The vehicle carrying her away Dawn looked for a spot to jump off on. Seeing a dark back alley she jumped off the truck into the street. Rolling through to lessen the impact of her fall Dawn kept moving. Climbing up a ladder on the side of a building she began running over the roofs as fast as she could away from the scene of her crime. Racing over the roofs she didn't pay attention on what direction she was heading. Only to gain distance between her and her location.
Finally thinking to herself there's enough distance and that she escaped from the hotel and her pursuers she plumped down on her rear. Her heart beating a million miles a second she never was that scared before.
"It fell apart at the end. Still a seven out of ten for your first major stealth assignment. You'll get better at it so that eventually you become like a ghost."
Dawn looked at the scroll in her hands. It maybe considered theft what she did but even without the required knowledge to read it she was certain to gain something out of it. Umbreon always told her that she and her previous hosts were at places taking items they shouldn't take. Dawn's breathing slowed down recomposing herself. Umbreon knew her host was finally clear of mind to be a conversation partner again spoke.
"And now you are ready."
"Huh?" Dawn didn't understand what she meant.
"You always were ready. You were ready the day you got me." Umbreon said as it triggered Dawn.
"You said less than an hour ago I wasn't!"
For the first time Umbreon was not scolding her for the lack of preparation or that she isn't good enough. She sounded a lot more friendlier than before with a gentle tone in the voice echoing in her mind. She never would've thought Umbreon can sound so calm like a lot of anger and discipline vanished from her mental voice.
"This is the part where you all figure out our behavior towards you. When you get that I'm done babysitting you."
"I don't get it."
"Sleep over it for a night. Eventually you will."
Now that Umbreon said she was ready it was weird. Dawn would've thought when the moment was there she would feel a sense of joy. Instead she felt a sort of understanding coming over her. Only after she went against the advice of the spirit did her tone differ from the previous weeks.
Dawn slapped her cheeks bringing focus back. Her thoughts were not important right now. Her mission complete she went home satisfied with the scroll in hand. First thing she would do is take a hot shower and then a long good nights sleep. Dawn had some additional homework translating the stuff in the scroll but it's something she was glad to do for a change.
See you around.