Chapter 14. Noxian beginnings
I started moving towards the gate as looked around more then I did when I first got here. I wanted to do my best to remember as much as I could about the city. Escape routes, Points of interest and shop's were my priority. Escape routes to get away from people, Certain places that might be worth checking up on and shop's. Tavern's, Blacksmiths and inn's were mainly what I was looking for. I stopped after I had reached at courtyard, The area seemed mid-class and the're was still people out. I could see roughly 8 people out in the courtyard I was in alone but the longer I stood there the more I found. There was a tavern that was closing up as well as a large tower at the end of the street to my right. I decided I would wait for the tavern to close then I would do my best to sneak in. Weapons, Food and tools were my priority in that order. Even a small dull knife would do. I had enough space under my coat to hold any food I would steal and any tool's such as crowbars or in a rare chance of lockpicks would be good. I've never used a lockpick though, much less seen one. It would be a good skill to have I'm sure. I moved to the building across from the tavern and leaned against it. I kept my eye's open for strange movement when I saw a few guards arrive at the tavern. They knocked on the entrance and after sharing a few words with the owner the guard entered. I hope they were only there to eat because if not, I might have to kill them. I wasn't sure how good I was at sneaking. I was quiet I knew that and I'm not clumsy so I don't fall over the smallest things but I also wasn't anything special. I think... won't know until I try I suppose.
I have been waiting for roughly 30 minutes and the guards havn't left. I decided to stop waiting and moved to the tavern. While I was waiting almost everyone in the area had gone home or whatever it is they call home. Only 3 people including me were in viewing distance of the tavern. I moved to a small alleyway off to the side of the tavern and looked around. The alley was disgusting, with rats and almost any type of filth pushed into the corners the buildings and road made. I pulled my attention away from the road and began to look for a way in. The easiest way to see would likely be to scale it so I looked for a way up and began to climb. I grabbed onto the top of a doorframe and pulled myself up to each a window above that. I put my legs just below the window and pushed myself off it leaping onto a window of the tavern. I moved to the right to reach for another window and pulled myself up onto the roof of the building next to the tavern. I took a moment to breath then began looking at the tavern in front of me. The windows in front of me were barred and the glass was broken on the window's. I peered in though the bar's to see a man writing at his desk, then I saw the window in front of the desk. It was wide open, but the man was directly in front of it. Since I was had plenty of time to do whatever I wanted I grabbed a small plank of wood from the top of the roof and pulled myself up onto the roof of the tavern. The window was in view to anyone in the courtyard but didn't have light directed to it. I slowly lowered myself to insure I don't surprise the man and placed the piece of wood on the window frame to make sure when he does close the window it's open just a crack. I then climbed back to the roof and set my eye's on another building, The large spire. The tower looked unusually out of place, almost like a lookout tower. I slowly made my way to the tower making sure to watch my steps, I wasn't used to running or even 'being' on rooftops so I took everything slowly. Eventually I started to move faster, getting used to angling my feet to the rooftop. It didn't take much longer once I started running on the rooftops to get to the tower, It had to have been a lookout tower. I looked long abandoned now however. The windows were all boarded up and there was no light at the top of the tower. I looked over the tower, The base had been barred and barricaded to insure no one got in and anywhere higher then 4 stories was lightly barricaded. I decided this would be a great place to hideout in the only problem was the tower wasn't near any other rooftops. It was in the middle of a courtyard of it's own and behind it was the city walls. The only way I was getting in the to either break the bottom barricades or scale the tower and break into one of the higher one's. I turned away and started running back towards the inn. If I was going to break in I would need tools.
I reached the tavern and looked into the barred window again to see the man wasn't there, he wasn't even in the room. I didn't want to waste this chance so I quickly climbed onto the roof and lowered myself in front of the window. It was closed but the piece of wood made sure it didn't close fully. I slipped one of my hands into the small slit and opened the window. I slowly climbed in, making sure no one was watching from the courtyard and making sure I didn't make noise. I closed the window to the block of wood again and slowly looked around. From what I saw I was in a bedroom. The room didn't have anything unusual out so I looked in a few drawers. I only found either useless items or clothes so I moved up to the door. I put my ear against the door to hear if anyone was behind it and slowly opened the door. The door opened to reveal a staircase going down to the second floor, where I could hear loud footsteps echoing from. It didn't sound like metal but someone was wearing some kind of armour, most likely those guard's I saw earlier. I moved slowly down the stairs to find myself surrounded by tables and chairs. It must be a extra area for people to sit, I could see a guard sitting at one of the table's writing something next to a candle. The area was mostly not lit and anywhere there was light was lit by candles. I moved quietly through the tables and chair's to get to the first floor. The man that was in the room I first entered was sitting at the bar with two of the guards drinking what looked like alcohol. I looked around to see another room filled with tables and chairs, but that's not what got my attention. The door to my left got my attention, it must lead to the supply room. It was however, in direct candlelight. I had to made a distraction, or wait for the three of them to be finished. I moved over to the front door and slowly undid the lock, The only sign of me doing such a thing was the short click however I timed it with the sudden laugher of the drunk's at the bar. Now I have a escape in case something went wrong. I wasn't looking to kill anyone, no reason to. I moved back towards the three drunks and decided to take a risk. The three of the were drunk and the other guard was upstairs occupied. I moved ever so much closer and felt my heartbeat in my throat. I slowly turned the knob of the door. I swallowed hard and in one motion pulled the door open dashed in and softly closed the door. I slowly turned the knob back and waited for a response... but one never came. I let out a quiet sigh of relief before looking where I was. There was crates and sacks of items along with meats and herbs. Since the room was mostly food I opened each sack one by one and took a amount that wouldn't be noticed. Then while moving the sack I found myself a small chest behind a few crates. I quietly moved them and tugged on the top of the chest to find it locked. It must be all the gold he own's so I looked around to see if I could find the key, however I wasn't so lucky. I kept looking around the room when something caught my eye. There was something shining in one of the crates. I slowly pulled the lid off the crate and to my delight I found something very interesting. Inside the crate was a set of knifes attached to a set of straps. The crate was small so it must have been a single order. Perhaps the store owner ordered it only to find it to not fit. Another theory was that this place got items shipped to the building for others to pick up there items. Regardless of why I was very interested in the knifes. I took out each strap of knifes, There was three in total. There was two straps that seemed to go around one's leg, both straps held 5 knifes. There was also a large strap that goes over ones shoulder to the waist. The strap around my chest had 8 knifes so in total I was now armed with 18 knifes. After putting on the straps and putting everything back where they belonged I moved to the door. However my heart jumped as the door slowly opened without me being there to open it. I quickly hid myself behind a wall of the crates. I could hear footsteps as well as see the faint light of a candle. "I swear I could hear something..." I heard a voice say. I didn't dare move in fear of being found out. I could see out of the corner of my eye the light getting closer and closer when my heart sank. The man peered past the wall of crates and looked directly at me. I didn't know what to do so I grabbed a knife however. The man then turned and looked the other way and sighed "I suppose I'm to nervous" Said the man as he turned around. How did that man not see me? He turned and looked directly at me and walked off? I had my back turned so maybe he thought I was a sack or even a shadow... It all seemed to strange so I didn't dare try to question it and moved from my hiding spot thankful. I stood up and made sure no one was around before I moved out to the bar. The guards had started patrolling the area however one of them was asleep and to my luck it was the one of the first floor. I didn't stop for a single moment moving to the front door quietly opening it and getting out. I closed it behind me and sighed heavily. I was relieved everything went so smoothly. No one had seen me come out of the building and I didn't plan on anyone seeing me at all. I moved towards the tower again.
I yawned I was tired and my nerves were tense. I had enough thrill for one day. I looked around to try to find a place to stay then remembered I had no coin. I sighed and moved towards the tower, my best bet. There was another way I could get in but I didn't want to try it in fear of getting seen but I could try to scale to the top of the tower. There was a platform at the top I could rest on or perhaps even get into the building from. It seemed to be my only option as well as the deadliest. I only just started climbing to rooftops and here I was about to climb to the top of a 9 story high tower. I scanned the building to see the best path up and moved towards the building. I approached the entrance and started scaling the building. I grabbed the top of the doorframe pulling myself up onto the first floor roof then onto the second and finally the third. From there it was only the tower. I began by grabbing onto one of the window's aligned straight down the tower. I started pulling myself up from one window to grab the next and quickly found myself out of energy by the 7th floor. I took a moment to breath and looked around from my current point of view. I felt sweat drip off my face as I turned to see the strangely breathtaking view of noxus. It was breathtaking in it's own way. The rooftops were different shades of red or black and buildings complemented their colour with there stone or brick walls. There was the occasional tower such as the one I was climbing right now. There was the walls the held the city in place and the moon staring down on the city itself from the high-class area. I finished looking and found the energy to finish pulling myself up. Just as I reached the top I laid on my back and took deep breaths. I was out of energy, one more story and I would have lost grip and fallen to my death. After catching my breath I looked around where I was. There was a large lantern in the middle of the platform as well as a trapdoor likely leading down into the building. I got off my back and opened the trapdoor. The smell of dust and rot filled my senses as I opened the trapdoor and moved into the building. The spiral staircase I climbed down seemed old and had missing or broken stairs every now and then. Just before I reached the fourth floor I looked at the barricaded window for the fifth. I found it was only boarded up from the outside, the window was also quite wide. I began knocking out the plank's on the building to make just enough room for me to crawl in and out of the window. I kept moving into the lower floors until I reached the third floor. I opened the door and felt could hear a large amount of scurrying, Must have been rats or mice. I best find a place to store my food safely then. I looked around and after looking over the seconds and first floors found myself in a old outpost for soldiers. There wasn't any weapons which wasn't surprising but still disappointing. Almost everything had been taken. There was a few books on a few shelves and a few unlit torches but other then that the only other notable things in the building were the rat's, mice and other pests. I found myself a room in the back of the building, the door had a lock that you could lock from the inside so I deemed that room as the one I would sleep in, as far as my food went. I stored it in one of the chests from another room. I moved the chest into the room I was going to stay in and decided I couldn't stay awake anymore. I had been yawning for the past 10 minutes over and over and I could only barely keep my eyes open. I took off my coat using it like a blanket on the rug I was laying on and went to sleep.