/=|= The Lost Raven =|=\
18
"An Assassin and Her Toys"
Tira found herself in the doorway to an abandoned bakery that once upon a time served as a home to derelicts then it served as a toy shop. But not kid's toys. Her kind of toys.
A small perpetual pile of debris and garbage lined the floors around the walls, pushed out of the way so people could walk from room to room. The walls were stained with things Tira, frankly, didn't care to know (didn't even care to look at.) Once upon a time, she'd meet up with a shady merchant who would lead her through the foyer into the back, into the office, were a trap door would lead them down into the dungeon with the toys. Poisons, elixirs, tools to keep people tied down, tools to make people talk. Everything the Bird of Passage needed her to have, this place at one time provided.
Now, no sign of life or a contact. All of these contacts seem to have disappeared with the Bird of Passage with seemingly no reason. Just poof, and all was gone. Ever on alert, no telling what kind of character Tira would find here now, she retraced familiar steps and—
Spotting a shadow in the office, Tira took cover right as a crossbow bolt flew through the open doorway. And before her assailant had time to reload, she darted through, hopped up, and kicked the weapon from him. The moment her feet nimbly touched down, she lunged forward, pinning her attacker against the wall … then she recognized the face, and her expression went from rage to confusion. "Hey, you're the merchant man!" The same nameless fellow the Guild sent her to in these parts. "Why did you attack me?" Her voice sounded like a sad lost little kid unable to explain the mean cruel world, and then a thought occurred and her voice lowered to a bloodthirsty threat on the very same breath, "you didn't take the Bird of Passage away did you?" He unsheathed a dagger, but her battle-honed instincts easily detected it, and with a dance-like performance, Tira managed to not only avoid the assault, but also twirl her captive around, pin his wrist behind his back, and run him face first into the wall, repeating her demand with even more venom, "Did you?"
"Just kill me like you did to everyone else!"
"What did you do to the Bird of Passage?" She twisted his arm, pulled his head back, and slammed it into the wall even harder.
"Wha—aagh!" he cried out, his wrist now at the breaking point and his forehead and nose now throbbing. Slowly regaining composure, "Look, I'm sorry. They came after me. I don't know why. They all went crazy."
"LIAR!" Tira launched off from that wall, spun around, and slammed her victim's head into the opposite one. "Why would they do that?"
"Oof!" Battered, his thoughts whirled and the world spun. Once he had a semblance of coherent thought again, he yelped, "I don't know! That's why I attacked you. Okay? A bunch of your guildsman attacked me for no reason out of the blue. I recognized you as one of them. Okay? I figured whatever made them crazy got to you! That's the truth!"
Jerking his head back, Tira roared, "I don't believe you!"
"No! Please! I haven't seen you around here in awhile. You have no idea what went on. Weird things have happened! I can't explain them, but that's the honest to God truth! Some say devils, other say witchcraft, others say Soul Edge if you believe such rubbish."
"Where is my guild, dammit?" And now just the mere threat of smashing his face in was enough to keep him talking.
"I don't—"
She jerked his head forward, without actually breaking his face again.
"Agh! No! S-supposedly there was a pillar of light in the darkness. The Dark Seed, they called it. I don't know! I didn't see it! But other people talk about it! All I know is, something happened, and people started going crazy! Everyone! Ostriensberg burned women for being witches, hanged men for dealing with the devil, and The Bird of Passage went totally insane, lady. Trust me, I would never cross that guild. I'm not that stupid. Were they themselves, do you think I could've stopped one of them?"
Biting her lip, Tira fought the urge to slam his head against the wall and keep slamming it until he stopped moving. Oh she wanted her guild back so badly, and this scum seemed to know something. She wanted to hurt him! She wanted to take it out on him! She wanted to, but … dammit! He was right! She easily bested him! What chance did he have against the entire guild unless something did screw with them? So she screamed! Unleashed the rage within in the form of a violent vocal outburst, shaking from her intense collision of emotions.
"People started talking about a knight on the warpath, destroying every town he came across and leaving no soul alive. He was making his way here, supposedly. A man with a little girl …"
The same man and little girl Tira just tossed off a cliff the night before. Dammit, it was starting to add up, but Tira didn't want it to add up. That meant the guild really did go crazy, and they really were gone forever.
Damn! Damn! Damn! She mentally cursed. DAMMIT!
"…he said he would stop the knight at the castle. I don't know if the knight ever existed, but he never showed up and we never heard from the man and the little girl again. That's all I can tell you."
Tira let him go, and back away into the opposite wall, then slid down to her tush. Her voice, having lost all fight and rage, now sounded vulnerable again as she squeaked, "and the Bird of Passage?"
The man gulped, slowly turning around and sitting down. "Dead … as far as I can tell. I'm sorry."
Tira nodded, buried her head in her hands, and wept.
"Go," she had told the merchant man as she pulled herself back together, "Leave town. Leave everything behind. Go far away. And never come back."
"But—"
She then dropped her voice, and glared with a look that declared she wasn't in the mood to negotiate. And upon the merchant man's departure, helped herself to his wares. Specifically, a little backpack and a series of small vials. Some containing powders, others containing liquids of different colors. Drugs and poisons.
Now she stood in front of the Great Willow inn once again. Her friends chirped at her from above, and she chirped back. They found a spot on the roof and settled down, and Tira went inside and set her newly acquired stuff down in her room. Well, most of her newly acquired stuff. She kept two different vials on her person. Back out to the busy common room, she sat at a table by herself, keeping an idle eye on her pray while trying to figure out a means of getting close and taking his soul. Right now a group of obnoxious loud mouth intoxicated locals verbally harassed him while he quietly ate and consumed a tankard of … something. Probably alcohol.
No one came to serve her. No surprise. Since the Bird of Passage vanished, or went crazy or whatever, no one had been nice to her. No wait! That wasn't true! Miss Agnes and Mister Curtis—
She stopped and her lip quivered, tears flooded to her eyes. She laid her head on the table and whimpered at the memory. The only people nice to her, the only people who made her feel like she fit in, and she killed them. Swallowing hard, Tira stood up and marched over to the bar, plopping some coins on the counter, and stating in unmoving terms she wanted something to drink. Like most other establishments, the men in this packed common room got handy prompt service while she would wait forever unless she set things in motion. She didn't even get alcohol, just water. Not really because she was that thirsty, but she wanted something to do. Even if it was just picking up a mug and taking teeny tiny sips. With depressing memories like her's, anything and everything will suffice as a distraction.
And then by fortunate chance, two of the loud mouths harassing the foreigner needed a refill while Tira was up getting her water. He came up behind her, and slapped her on the ass. And unbeknownst to either of them in that moment, he would provide a way for her to get close and consume the soul of Li Long …
Writer's Note:
For this story, I imagine Tira looking like my version of her from SCIV's editor. Link to My Tira pictures located in my profile. (I would link here, but won't let me for some reason.)