Needs of the Few (Maro)

[Igna]

OoC:

The first battle for both me and Maro. Since at the time of writing we both have only one character each and we know the two very well, it's rather pointless to link to their profiles. Enjoy.

BiC:

Jaeger held his breath and sat. Already, his adrenaline was rising; it always did just before he began the real hunt.

He was currently sitting outside of a rather large building in the proud city of Varrock. From what he understood, it was the emissary building that currently housed his new target...but the only difference to him was that it was a bit harder to break into than the routine house or inn. He scanned his surroundings one more time. None of the sentries had noticed his presence. Slowly, and with total silence, he put one hand to the ground, bringing a small vine out of the ground. Soon, like a snake, it had slid onto the wall, latching itself and spreading out. Jaeger breathed deeply; these things always drained his energy.

He didn't know too much about the target. He did know, however, that it was a very powerful Asgarnian general; this in itself was a great reason to kill him off, and the fact that he had come relatively isolated to the city of Varrock as a diplomat would make his death not only convenient, but expedient. The assignment had been handed to him by an officer of Burthorpe, his home town, as well; no doubt, it was somehow politically advantageous for this man to die. Jaeger never really concerned himself with politics...but it did give him plenty of interesting people to kill.

He had made his way to the window immediately above him. Slowly lifting his eyes to survey its insides, he readied one of his knives. Its thin blade slid roughly between the bottom of the window and the wall that it was stationed in; feeling the place of the lock, he readied his strike.

The metal made a noise before it gave. Jaeger involuntarily grimaced; he hated anything that made a noise in times like this. Just to be safe, he looked below himself to see if the sentries had noticed; even at this height, such a small noise could turn things sour. Afterwards, he opened the window without noise, stepping into the hallway. Seeing it unoccupied, a grin spread across his face. Quiet as ever, he proceeded to make his way quickly to higher ground.

Do not worry, my prey, I will be there for you soon enough...


A brown-haired man reclined on his cushioned chair, rubbing his left arm. Looking down, he saw the same familiar, accursed, sling that imprisoned it. His luck be damned, it was his one faithful hand in combat that had been taken from him. He sighed. Suddenly, the opening of a door alerted him, his eyes springing up to the doorway and his legs raising him off his chair.

When he saw the man, he relaxed. It was only a fellow diplomat, not a stranger to him. Slowly he sat back down and beckoned the man forward.

Neither of them saw Jaeger.

[Maro]

* * * * *

"Hello, Anni," the Asgarnian general and diplomat bade Kaban to sit in the chair opposite a small table. Anoch complied.

"How have you been, Igna? How is your arm?" As he spoke, the Khar unstrapped his sword belt and buckler, setting them in easy reach beside his chair.

"It's...been better, certainly. The priests say it's nothing that won't heal, though, so I'm not terribly worried about it. Just annoying, is all...but anyway." The general shrugged and sat back against the chair. It was obvious that he felt a great deal more than annoyance at his injury; Anoch had reliable word that Igna's wound was quite a bit worse than he would have liked. But the general was right, of course. There were more important things to discuss. Things that they might be able to change.

Keban thought back on the past month. He had been thinking about settling down and raising a family, but Tethyrin had asked him to come here, to Varrock. Nothing terribly urgent, of course; Keban was to reestablish trade with Misthalin, since trade had more or less collapsed during and after the Abyssal Wars. In the time since he had been here, he had only met with the king twice...he understood that there were more pressing matters for the king than reopening a market of mostly luxury goods, and was more than content to hobknob with the local nobility and the diplomats from other states. He had met Igna at a particularly large function; and for the general from Falador, a particularly drunken one. Anoch had decided to push his first mission on the Asgarnian, the resurection of the worldwide alliance against the Legion still in Keramja and Morytania, and found that the general shared the same views. The two had fast become friends...or as much as "friendship" could be given their situation.

All of this took place in the space of a second, and the Khar returned to the present without his companion even noticing the revere. He pulled out his water pipe; only tobacco today. He often mixed hashish or opium into the blend, but wasn't so stupid as to do such when there was something to discuss. Drawing a slow burning match from his robe, he lit the pipe and began to puff thoughtfully.

* * * * *

[Igna]

* * * * *

Jaeger had been sitting in the shadows of the room's corner for some time as the two men discussed. Though he recognized certain names and locations, he tried not to pay any attention; their boring rambling would probably just serve to dull his senses.

The first thing that he had noticed when he found his way into the room was that his target was injured. This was a bitter-sweet realization. Though this made his job infinitely easier, he wasn't sure whether that was good or not; the hunt was what made his job enjoyable, not the ease. Then again, it was the left arm that was held in a sling. With the high probability that he was right-handed, he would be able to wield a sword and fight back.

Jaeger looked at the second man in the room. A man of the desert, it seemed. The build of his body showed that he had at least some worth as a fighter, though Jaeger could not measure his skill by simply looking at him. If he was adept with a weapon, it might be better if he was killed first; however, if he had no intentions of guarding the other man, it would be far more risky to antagonize him instead of allowing him to run away.

Jaeger blinked. He had thought enough. He didn't like to over-analyze his missions; to him, this seemed like recognition that he was unable to handle the situation with skill alone. His target was the man with the sling...so he would attack the man with the sling. If anything went astray, he would always be able to retreat. Slowly and quietly, he brought his hand to the hilt of his sword, its blade still sheathed. He was facing the back of his target, and the front of the other man; he would have to strike his target both from above and behind, as the man was sitting down. He smirked. He had done this before.

Without any sound other than what his feet made on the floor, Jaeger rushed towards the chair. The seconds that took him from his position of invisibility to the back of the chair were vital to the success or failure of his mission; that would be the first moment his prey was made aware of his presence, and it would be what decided whether there was a protracted battle or a quick assassination. Jaeger's target did not see him as quickly as the other man did, mainly because the two were facing opposite directions. Still, he had turned and was moving away with panic at great speed. Unfortunately, he had not acted quite fast enough. In the split second it took him to stand up, Jaeger was upon him, sword raised and wanting for the touch of flesh.

Jaeger paid no mind to the surprised voices of the two in that blurry moment, or their more specific motions. His mind had focused completely on his prey. Which was why it had shocked him when the second man locked his own scimitar to Jaeger's, allowing his target to gain distance from his killer, his panicked expression fading off his face.

The element of surprise had been spoiled due to this damned desert-man. Jaeger at first was frustrated, but only for a negligent span of time; instead, he turned to his opposer with a smile. Someone so quick who could spring to guard as fast as Jaeger could spring to attack had to be a man of considerable talent. This would be a good hunt.

* * * * *