[Flashback] Smoke and Mirrors (Nai'shee)

[Razia]

Razia, not much to her dismay, managed to attract more and more guards. She'd always enjoyed a good brawl, and seeing the look on their faces when they were beaten by a small girl was hysterical. After knocking out four more guards, she slipped into the shadows, popping up her hood and waiting for another patrol to come. They did, five men holding torches, searching wildly around the four on the ground. In a split second, Razia launched herself to the rooftops and trotted off, unnoticed. She could spy the docks from her position, the light of lanterns on boats shimmering by the water. However, she knew that if she departed now, the guards would easily find her. Some of them knew her, though rarely caught a glimpse of her face. She always found a way to trick them, it seemed. Though she had been imprisoned on multiple occasions, she'd never stayed too long. At this point, she had an opportunity. She couldn't care less about her own reputation, being soiled as it was already. However, she could protect the girl. Razia thought back to when she was younger, wondering how it might have changed things if she'd avoided certain decisions. To become a thief... Razia chuckled to herself. But this girl was good at what she did. She had talent that most others lacked, and in a few years, she could probably master those skills. It would be worth it to protect her. She would be a sort of investment, in a way. Plus, Razia liked her attitude. The echoing clatter of footsteps aroused Razia from her contemplation, and she turned to face them. They were below her, and about a block away. Sneering, she ran to the edge of the building. She crouched, steadying herself with both hands, and whistled. It was a musical note, a song, one she learned in her childhood in Wind Reach. It caused the guards to halt, and immediately spot her. One pointed, and another readied the bow. Razia cocked a brow, faking a look of surprise and fear. She stood up, holding her hands in the air. "I guess you've found me.." She yelled, lifting her face to the sky. "Too bad you can't catch me..." She added under her breath, jumping off of the building toward the guards. An arrow whizzed past her, and they readied their swords, ready to fight when she landed. However, she didn't land. Just after she jumped, a pair of monstrous wings appeared, diving in out of the shadows. The eagle scooped her up with large talons, and was gone, disappearing into the night sky. A few blocks away, Razia laughed loudly, seated atop a building. Anthion was beside her, laying on his stomach, chirping toward the docks. He swung his gargantuan head toward Razia, "Andaer says that she's arrived safely." He tweeted, perking his head as he listened to a distant whistling. Razia smiled, pushing herself to her feet and petting his beak, "Good. Tell him I'll be there shortly." She murmured, walking to the edge and sliding onto the street. Anthion shook out his feathers, "I'll meet you back at the tent, then." He spread his wings and took off, leaving her alone in the dark. It did not take long to reach the docks, unhindered by guards or wandering sailors. She leisurly walked down the dock, spotting Andaer perched on the wooden railing across from a large pile of crates and sacks. Walking up to it, she decided to allow the girl to show herself, and Razia jumped onto the wooden railing beside Andaer, sitting and waiting for her new friend.

[Nai'shee]

She heard few tweets and footsteps, so she was sure it was Inarta. For the moment, her head was full of possibilities: What if she betrayed me? What if they caught her? What if it was some other Inarta? But she understood it was paranoia, so she forgot about that, and jumped out. "Hey there", she said cheerfully. "It seems like our guards found unusually strong opponents, huh? How are they?" She lift a sarcastic smile appear on her lips, while trying to get pieces of some exotic tropic fruit out of her hair. "So, what now?", she added with excited, dashing tone.

[Razia]

Razia sat on the railing, petting Andaer and smiling to herself, "Yes, I'm sure they didn't see us coming." She snickered, raising her eyes to the girl, "Now? Well..." Her gaze trailed to the golden dagger that was securely tucked in the girl's belt. Hesitating, she considered the possibilities. "We're not going to sell it to that bastard," she hissed suddenly, gripping the railing and slipping off onto the ground. The Inarta woman began to pace, "and we're most certainly getting paid for it." She began to pace to and fro, deep in thought. "I suppose we could... Yes... That would be just hysterical.." Laughing to herself, Razia stopped mid-step, glancing toward the girl. "May I see the dagger?" She asked, reaching out an open palm.

[Nai'shee]

"Sure", she pulled out the dagger, the thing everything was about, and gave it to Inarta. She wanted to get paid for this mess, of course, but even more then that she wanted to make fool of stupid captain who made them go trough all of this. And, of course, not selling it to him wasn't enough. She didn't wanted revenge that badly, but it was a nice way to spend a boring day. And if she's going to do it, she's going to do it right. She was bored of her own question, so she decided to let Inarta keep intensity around.

[Razia]

Razia snatched the dagger, holding it close to her face to examine to intricate designs. She traced along the blade with her fingertips, turning it over to see the other side. After a moment, she lowered it, holding it up while she talked, "The shape of this dagger is nothing unique. I've seen fairly similar things crafted out of steel. It's not a weapon as much as it is decoration; gold is much softer than other metals. It's easy to melt down, too... But not easy to imitate." She recalled the wide variety of weaponry that she'd encountered in her travels over the past few years; daggers, swords, bows, spears, made out of every type of material. She'd only come across gold once or twice, but she'd been informed by fellow fighters that it was not worth the price. She also knew that gold weapons were very rare, and that the sailor most likely had not encountered one so closely as he would now. That was to their advantage. Razia began to pace again, "I think that we could replicate it, however. Riding on the assumption that our sailor friend has not seen it too closely, and never free of that glass case." Though this was quite a powerful assumption, the circumstances proved it to be true. With the amount of money that he was offering her, and probably what he was offering the other girl, he could have easily just bought the dagger. However, he hired two people to steal it. Either this man was completely insane, or there was some specific reason that he could not go into that shop and buy the dagger. Maybe it was his pride, which was great for business in the world of a thief. Or possibly a past connection with the shop owner, or him wanting to outsmart someone somehow. No matter what, the situation was no longer in his hands, and his own stupidity had brought him to such a position. Razia turned back to the girl, stopping in her tracks, "Here's what I'm thinking. We can't get paid if we don't deliver something. So, we deliver something else, that looks similar but isn't worth half as much. Hopefully, we could trick him into thinking it's the real deal. What do you say?"

[Nai'shee]

"Wow, you're pretty good", she said with smile. "It's awesome! But still, how do we imitate gold? Even if he haven't seen golden weapon, he have seen a lots of gold... especially when I think about what he offered me before. Should we gild it somehow? If we melt few Mizas it should be enough to cover that size, but we could ruin it. And simple coloring will hardly work." She quickly gone trough her tiny list of good friends who know about her sneaky little job, and nobody had skills they needed. She thought it wasn't something hard, even newbie could give it a try, but still, life learned her that every single Miza she has is her treasure, and that she should treat them carefully. She could steal a bit of food and she saved the part to be able to sleep over in some inn when it's cold, and the most to buy a ship someday. She couldn't just melt them and try out something that might not work. And even on someone's dagger, which has it's price, as well. "I don't know anything about chemistry. Is gold soluble? We might be able to make a color out of it? Or you had a particular idea, and I just began babbling, as usually? By the way, what was your name? At least fake one, I'll get used on calling you Inarta. There aren't many of you here, so it's almost like a name to me", she laughed at herself.

[Razia]

Laughing in response, the Inarta shrugged, "It's Razia. And yes, we could melt gold, but it would require a lot of heat. We could also paint it, but as you said, he's encountered gold before..." Pausing, she frowned, staring down at the dagger, "I suppose melting is our only choice. And it would be worth it, trust me. A few gold mizas doesn't compare to what he's willing to pay..." Suddenly brightening, she lifted her eyes, "And we could resell the dagger for full price on the black market!" Spinning in a circle to display her delight, she let out a loud laugh. Suddenly she halted, turning to the girl, "I never caught your name either, come to think of it."

[Nai'shee]

"Razia... well, you sound like a thief", she smiled. She had no idea why Razia sounded so criminal to her, but it was like... Like some artist who have fake artist name, it sounded almost like thief name. She liked her own name for being unusual, that way it will be remembered one day. Or at least she hoped so. She imagined history class in some school and kids complaining because they have to remember her name. And, of course, she would be killed in great sea battle by some hero, and somebody is going to avenge her later... It was a nice dream, indeed. Well, yes, compared to his offer they could fail dozen times before they lose profit and they're going to sell the real one too, which is double profit, they're getting something however. Guess there's no other choice to it and, at least, she will learn a bit about it. You never know what can be useful to you. She might end up making her own weapons one day, she must be able to at least melt metal. "Oh, yeah, we haven't really talked 'till now, have we? it's Nai'shee, my pleasure to meet you", she said with obeisance. "Future greatest sailor of Mizahar."

[Razia]

The self-administered title made Razia smile. She nodded in affirmation, repeating the foreign sounding name continuously in her mind so as to commit it to memory. The girl was becoming more and more interesting to her; she could envision her becoming something great. Returning her thoughts to the business of their present situation, she held out the dagger, "We'll need about five or six gold mizas at least. And we'll have to find a kiln or something to melt them in." She tossed the dagger up slightly, testing its weight. "We'll also need sculpting tools, or perhaps a lockpick, to carve these designs... Or at least something similar." OOC : Oh. My. Goodness. I'm so sorry for the delay! This week has been so chaotic and I've barely been at home at all! I promise I'll try to get on at least once a day from now on if my power doesn't go out again...

[Nai'shee]

She noticed Inarta - Razia - smiling at her title, which made her a bit proud. She quickly lost interest in impressing her, and got back to the main topic. Kin... She couldn't come up with anything free. Everything would be too dangerous, if somebody finds them they'll figure what's going on. "Well, we can't find kin right now. Somebody will notice us, and we would probably have to break into someone's house. Then we need to make one. I could make something usable, I did it few times... Heading to wilderness?" That made her remember when she did it first time, when she became thief, when her dad died and she was left alone in cold Zeltivan winter without food or money. It was awful experience. Come to think of that, that's why she became thief in the first place. To eat. But now, it was kind of fun, challenge. OOCNo problem, don't feel guilty, everybody have obligations. Just let me know if you can, I got a bit worried...