Closed A Student's Student (Leith)

[Kaska Villahotes]

Kaska laid back in the water in contentment, smiling and ducking down to his neck in the warmth. "Oh, enjoy it. We don't get any more hot water than this." he told her. "See, there's this giant tub at the top of the building that is heated by fires. It has tubes leading down to the rooms, so when you turn the tap hot water comes out. I only paid for one bath. See that lock around the spigot? It makes it so we can't have any more hot water. One tub, that's it." He settled down and poured some of the cloudy oil onto his hands, rubbing it into his hair. He sighed as he felt the tallow and ambergris yank the dirt out of his hair from the past few days. "Though I have to tell you, this is our last little luxury. I'm out of my pocket money, which means I can't keep treating you like a princess. Last bath for two weeks, missy." he told her, putting the bottle back in the small wooden basket floating on the water. He pushed it towards her. "Here, work it through your hair. It's soap, but they put something in it to make it so it doesn't stink like tallow soap. Zeltivans bring it over, I know the woman who runs the place pays top coin for it." He scrubbed his head happily and ducked under the water to wash it out, coming up with his wet hair a dark red, like blood. He took the clear bottle. "This is hair oil. Protects your hair from things and keeps it soft." he rubbed it into his hair and settled back to give himself a small scalp massage. It was odd having company he wasn't spreading his legs for, but it was nice. She was so innocent playing like a child in the bath he couldn't help but smile at her.

[Leith]

She sniffed the air when he started using the stuff and decided she liked the smell. She ducked under the water again to swim enjoying the warmth then came up in front of him. “Will you do it for me? This way it all goes in, I’m afraid I’d do more harm than good…”

She gave him her best pleading look, her eyes big and innocent looking. She sometimes used it when she really wanted something, though usually to get the old man who sells apples to part with an extra one or two of the not so bruised ones. In this case it was because she really didn’t want to work hard to scrub. “I can wait on baths and stuff, when we can leave we’ll be able to do it more often. Though it won’t be warm like this sadly… Where does the water go when you are done? Does someone drink it all?”

She couldn’t imagine someone taking in all that water, she was willing to bet they paid for it too, she hoped they were good at digging deep holes.
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[Kaska Villahotes]

Kaska cleared his throat when she came up in front of him. It was nothing he hadn't seen before, but considering her innocence it was a bit...off-putting. "How about, I teach you. You're old enough to learn how to wash your own hair." he said, sitting up properly and handing her the cloudy bottle. "Put a bit on your palms, rub them together, then rake them back through your hair like your fingers were a comb. Then put more on, and this time shake your hands when you rake through your hair." he instructed. "You leave it for a few minutes, then you wash it out." He watched her for a few moments and rinsed his own hair, coming up and sighing happily at the clean feelings. He chuckled and rinsed it again. "After that you rinse it, you put the proper hair oil in, you wait to let it soak in, then you rinse twice. Enoch taught me this. Hell, the cleaner you are, the more you can charge. I wish I had enough for lotion." he smiled and settled into the bath. "Or even better...perfume. I got taken to a big city when I was little. Saw streetwalkers that were young, perfumed, wore silk. They were gorgeous and charged ten mizas for an hour of their company, let alone sleep with them." he told her dreamily. "I remember I told Enoch I wanted to be one of those. He laughed at me." He languished in the water happily, scrubbing himself with the bar of soap conveniently left for the patrons.

[Leith]

She sighed doing as he instructed, mostly because it was new stuff to use, but she knew how to clean. “Usually that works… There is an old man who sells yummy apples, I usually sell my kills on a cloth he gives me near his spot. He gives me free apples if I keep watch, though to be honest I ask Nibbler to warn me if a human comes up, usually they just buy stuff. He’s a nice man, I like his apples, but sometimes I like the good ones and ask for them. Waters too warm to scrub…”

Still she knew she’d not get what she wanted, she wanted to be lazy, but once done she sunk up to her nose her eyes glinting mischievously. She then splashed him with water ducking under and swimming the short distance to the other end coming up and grinning at him. “Can we stay till the water is cold? I wanna soak up as much warm as we can.”

She also wished they could go hunting after, but that wasn’t possible, cooked rabbit sounded really good. Though what about apples? “We could visit the old man maybe? See if he’d spare some of his bruised ones…”
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[Kaska Villahotes]

Kaska shook his head and smirked. "We put my plan into effect. Then we can see the old man when we have some coins in our pockets and really buy some apples." he said, splashing her with the water. "Now wash your hair, I paid good money for this." he chuckled and lunged toward her in the water, grabbing her and scrubbing her head with his fingers playfully. He pushed up her hair into ragged spikes, smirking at her. "I think I quite like you with crazy hair." he smirked. After the bath Kaska dried himself and combed his hair, making sure he shaved himself from top to bottom. It was only sparse, but if they got a big fish he wanted no chances. "Shouldn't take long. Follow me." he led her out of the bathhouse, dropping off the bottles at the front counter. He'd had a good time, but now it was time for her test. Now was business, to see if she'd learned. Pickpocketing in such an intimate situation, where the man could easily turn on Kaska and strangle him for stealing or worse, was dangerous. Kaska hadn't told her, but he'd seen plenty of whores get a knife to the ribs for trying the exact same move. But she was a quiet thing and she'd taken less tries than he had to get the gravel packet. This would work. He slid into one of his danger areas, a small circle with a slash mark through it marked in some sort of soot outside the building. This was the home of his single worst client, a drunkard who had beaten him on several occasions. This was not going to be mere pickpocketing...this was going to be a full robbery. He stopped a good distance from the door and took Leith's hands. "This is going to be your greatest test. I will leave the door open for you. When he leads me upstairs, I want you to take everything of value from this house. Anything shiny, like the bracelet, with jewels or gold. Everything you can fit on your person. Don't worry about me, I'll slip out. Are you ready?" he unslung his mace from his shoulder and his pack, hiding them under a pile of refuse near the door. "Go, hide around the corner and try not to be seen. Like I said, I'll leave the door cracked." He kissed her forehead. He guided her to a spot around the corner and gave her an encouraging look. "Wish me luck." he said, turning back toward the home and knocking on the door. It opened, and a man glared back with a most unpleasant expression. "The hell you looking all dolled up for? You desperate again?" the man sneered at him. "Just for someone who's a...bit rougher. These traders have been so gentle to me, they don't even pull hair." Kaska put on a pitiful expression, pushing out his lower lip petulantly like a child. "Let me in baby. I'll even give you a discount if you're extra rough." The man looked at him hungrily. Kaska did look better than the ratty thing he'd had, and with such a blatant offer he couldn't refuse. Abuse, and at a lower price? Kaska must truly be poor. His hand darted out and grabbed Kaska's scalp as quick as a snake, yanking back his head to expose his throat. "Oh? I'll be rough with you." the man snarled coldly into Kaska's face, and wrapped his long red hair around his fist. Kaska braced himself; this was going to hurt. But it would be ever so worth it if Leith did her job right and robbed this man blind. He yelped as he was yanked sharply inside the door and the man shoved his mouth on his. The next thing he knew he was slammed to the stairs. "Up the goddamn stairs." the man snarled like a lion behind him, and Kaska scrambled up as fast as possible. This wasn't rough, this was death. Kaska had seen this exact same creature strangle several of his sisters of the night, and he knew what was in store. He was playing with fire to get revenge. He was gambling not only with his life, but Leith's. Gods, if he saw her...Kaska ran into the man's room and slammed the door shut in his face. "Oh you little bitch." the man growled and shouldered the door, enough to make it buck and kick open. The man, in his haste to beat Kaska, had left the front door open. They were up the stairs, and Kaska's pained cries were enough to cover her noise. She had run of the house.

[Leith]

She wasn’t in a playful mood after they had left, she was on pins and needles, it only got worse when they left his area in to a danger marked place. She ducked out of sight, but not out of her sight and what she saw done made her bite her lip. Anger pooled in her belly, he’d warned her, but seeing the man touch her friend made her want to leap out and claw out his eyes. When she was sure they were elsewhere in the house she slipped in quietly. The sounds she heard raised the hair on the back of her neck, she closed her eyes steeling herself against it all. She got to work carefully looking through things and placing them back when done. The house was filled with all sorts of things, so many things that she had never seen, human things that had no meaning to her. She started small finding a bag near the door that must have been the mans, she found a few shiny things and looked in a different spot.

Leaning against the wall near the stairs were a pair of knives, he’d told her to take valuables, but did that include weapons? She silently bared her teeth, if she took them he’d not be able to use them and that was enough incentive for her. She picked them up, she’d only seen their hilts, but she was very happy when she saw they had sheaths. She stuffed them under her shirt, Kaska could have everything else if he wanted, but he had a weapon and she was claiming the knives as hers. Eventually she had nabbed as much as she could find, probably not a whole lot, but that was for her friend to tell her. She left quietly again, but she made sure to cry a raven’s cry. It wasn’t her best, she was human now, but she hoped her red haired companion would get it was her, especially with the sky as it was. She only hoped the vile man he was with wouldn’t understand, then she bolted quietly as she could slipping from place to place making it home.

Once there she took everything out and stashed it out of sight, one knife she attached to her belt, the other she arranged in her boot. One day she’d find out how to really use them for more than stabbing, but she felt secure with them more than she had realized. Humans carried weapons, she now had some too, but it also meant that she had a sharper fang if someone tried to get her again. She wasn’t a meek thing to start with, but now she was more dangerous. She worried about Kaska, she hoped he would be okay, she wouldn’t dare leave their spot to go poking about again. Though once he was back she’d go find Baldur and see if he had some of the drink he liked. Even if he might turn it down she knew he’d probably drink it, from the sounds she heard he was probably going to need it, if only for wounds. She tucked her knees close, the knife in her boot within reach while she waited.
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[Kaska Villahotes]

The minute Leith crouched down in the alleyway, she'd hear the soft groan of a bowstring being pulled. "Hello little one." a man growled softly in the darkness, and another stepped to block her escape from the alleyway. "Move, and I'll put the arrow through the back of that pretty little head." the bowman warned. The man at the front of the alleyway was soon joined by a third. Enoch smiled down at Leith. "So, Kaska's gotten himself an apprentice." he squatted down to her level, looking at her in the eyes. "You're coming with me. Quietly now, don't make a fuss or I'll have to have my boy back there shoot you somewhere you're not going to like." Enoch smiled. He wasn't an unpleasant looking creature, with sharp features and dark, cruel little eyes. He had a mussed mess of blonde hair sticking out of the top of his head, and the long fingers of a thief. "So what do you say little one, going to come quietly? No sound. Just hold up a finger." The bowstring stretched taut behind her, the arrowhead aimed straight for the back of her skull. If she cried, he'd release it. He was close enough to make the arrow extremely hard if not impossible to dodge. Enoch kept up his thin-lipped smile. He knew Kaska would come back for her, but if she'd come out of the house he'd thought then Kaska would have a lot more problems than a friend. Like broken ribs, perhaps. Enoch remembered that house. That was the house he'd first sold Kaska out to. The boy had come back with a broken arm and enough bruises to make him look like he'd rolled in soot. So that was Kaska's aim. Train a pretty young thing like this for petty revenge? That was very much like his old apprentice indeed. He stood up. "Tie her up, but don't be rough. She's a kelvic, a bird. One of the boys said he'd seen her talking at ravens in this alley. So don't let her fly away, or summon her bird friends. Ravens are smart, determined and what's more, they're nasty combatants when they need to be. So no underestimating." Enoch growled at the two men. He stood back to watch, sliding a hand into his sleeve to clutch a throwing knife. _______________________________ Kaska had barely escaped. Oh the man had gotten his way but the second Kaska had heard Leith's footprints out the door, he'd bit down on a very sensitive part of the man's anatomy and run. The man's angry shrieks of pain and rage had made him distinctly unaware of a growing pain in his side. He held it as he limped out of the alley and checked himself over. Cracked rib, bruises on his hips, and a large one spreading across his throat where the man had half choked him. Well, the joke was on him. He'd not be having sex again, ever. Kaska spat blood and leaned against the wall for a moment, breathing. He had to get home. He retrieved his pack and mace, hissing in pain when the mace settled against its old spot on his shoulder. He limped toward his alley but froze when he saw a very familiar figure standing at the head of it. Enoch. He swore loudly and hid around a corner, peeking his head out and checking what Enoch was doing with the one eye that wasn't rapidly swelling shut. He had to see! He took the mace and breathed deeply for a moment, taking one of the forehead spikes and puncturing the swollen skin right where his eye socket ended and cheek began. Blood spurted, and Kaska screamed silently in his head. He pressed down around the wound and saw blood run down his cheek, resisting the urge to pound his foot against the ground. But when he forced his eye open, it was no longer swelling. He could see. Where was Enoch taking Leith?

[Leith]

Leith stood up when the man got to eye level her mismatched eyes angry “I won’t call for help, I’m not stupid and I’d lose friends, you don’t need to gag me.” She looked away “You don’t even have to bind me, I can’t fly anyways.”

She looked at the man with the bow in the eyes, then down at the man who knew Kaska. She thought about what her friend had said then looked at the cold eyed man “You are Enoch, the one who the chest is from aren’t you?”

She looked to the sky and sighed with relief “I have to warn them off if they see, I promise I won’t tell them more than to scatter, that’s only if I am spotted…”

She was relieved that Kaska hadn’t come back yet, though that only made her worried more for him. With the men in front of her she moved her hands behind her back to carefully let the bracelet slip to the blankets. Her friend knew she loved his gift, she hoped he’d realize that she left it to tell him she was taken, not that she left him by choice. She walked towards the end looking over her shoulder “Well? Coming? I’m assuming you are taking me for revenge for the chest or simple pettiness, so lets go.”

She was terrified, she didn’t want to get hurt again and she saw in that man’s eyes an emptiness that scared her. He’d enjoy whatever he’d do to her, she felt certain of that, but she was determined to face it bravely. She looked over the one with the bow looking at his eyes, she knew he’d hit her especially at the close range they were in. She couldn’t escape and saw that clearly, but she could make the best of the situation, hopefully she’d be allowed to stay untied without a gag too. “So, you have reasons for all this so why don’t you tell me? I may not be able to understand it, humans are so very confusing, but I do at least deserve to know. Kaska won’t risk his neck for me, he’ll probably think I skipped off and I know you said not to talk, its why I am asking now.”

She looked up at the sky again longingly, she was trapped and Kaska was elsewhere. She silently thanked the gods that he wasn’t around, he’d probably have been killed. She decided that as they walked she’d make marks. The humans she was with probably wouldn’t know how to track, but she had taught Kaska some and she could leave a trail even he could follow. She’d have to be careful, they knew what she was, but clearly they thought she lived in the city and not the wilds. She didn’t know if Kaska knew where this man lived, she’d do what she could. She had a feeling she was going to be hurt again, his eyes said he liked hurting, like the man who Kaska was with. She could only hope that she could worm her way with words to make an ally or two of the people with her.

She closed her eyes waiting Please just let him be alive… I know I’m gunna get hurt, but please…keep him safe. That’s all I ask…

She was certain she was going to die, it was in her face, her eyes, she bowed her head accepting that very possibility. All things died, it was just a fact of life, either from old age or even through the means of cruel hands. The result was the same, just not the means with which it was delivered. She wasn’t afraid of dying, just of how she died, she didn’t want to suffer.
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[Kaska Villahotes]

"Even so. A little precaution. I know some kelvics who aren't as attached to their little friends, and I don't feel like sending my boys raven hunting." Enoch said, nodding to the man next to him. He stepped forward and bound Leith's hands behind her back, stuffing a roll of cloth in her mouth and a kerchief over that. At a nod from Enoch the man knelt and rather roughly threw her over his shoulder, rising and looking at his master. Only then did the bowman relax and slide his arrow back into his quiver. Enoch had them slip around the alleyways as Kaska had, quietly and quickly without being seen. Enoch had considered her words, perhaps she did deserve to know. "Well since you're gagged, just listen." he said as they passed the marker for Kaska's territory. "Kaska as far as I can tell was just using you. He steals my chest, trains you a little bit, then immediately whips around and steals from his first client. You were a means to an end. So I'm simply extracting a bit of revenge of my own. Kaska killed one of my apprentices, in an alley not far from here. Crushed his pelvis and left him to bleed out with rats picking at his entrails. So I'm taking his little pet. You're pretty enough to work well, and from what my boys have seen watching you and Kaska you have a talent for pickpocketing. Cross me, and I will break your legs. Or your arms, so you can never fly again. Depends on how much you anger me, raven." Enoch said sharply. He walked out into the streets, passing a marker with five slashes through it in black charcoal. Five whores, black for Enoch's eyes. Enoch led them to a house, which must have been an old inn. It was falling apart and half burnt from the fires, so much so that the door wasn't so much a door as a doorway. He nudged the half-burned door open. "Welcome to hell." the bowman smirked at Leith as they slid through. Three boys were napping on a burned couch, and two others came down the stairs. "I thought kidnapping was a bit beyond us." one of them smirked at Leith. "She's your new sister." Enoch said lightly as his man dumped Leith on the burnt wood floor. _________________ Kaska followed along behind them, holding his injured side. He had the mace, he just needed one good shot. He hissed in pain when he slid outside of his territory, glaring at Enoch's marker. He had to get Leith back, he was afraid of what could happen to her. The same thing that happened to him? If so, then he could have a few hours or days depending on Enoch's mood. They definitely swung back and forth like a pendulum, he would have to count on Leith's innocence to protect her. Enoch liked to circle around innocence like that before destroying it.

[Leith]

Being bound and gagged then tossed over the man’s shoulder had upset and humiliated her, but she didn’t struggle. It wasn’t comfortable nor could she have gotten the stuff in her mouth out, she was just glad he didn’t sniff around too much to take anything. His story actually brought her a bit of relief, so the man didn’t know the real reasons why his apprentice was dead. If he had known that Kaska had done it for her things would probably end up worse. However she didn’t plan on allowing this man to let others touch her. When she was dumped on the floor she squirmed in to a sitting position looking at those around her. They hadn’t taken her knives, she’d have to keep them a secret for as long as she could. She scooted her arms over her behind then maneuvered her legs till she was free. She got the gag off then got her hands unbound, but didn’t try and run or make noise.

As she had said, she wasn’t stupid, she didn’t think she could simply dash out especially with the eyes on her. Once the taste from the cloth was out of her mouth she finally spoke “My name is Leith Mournlith, not ‘raven’ and you’ll get better work out of me than as a whore. Just as you said Kaska taught me as a means to an end, but I stuck around him too for my own reasons. I can fly, none of you can, think of what I can do. If you taught Kaska it means you are better than he is, I have a better opportunity now. You treat me right and don’t let others touch me and I’ll fly as part of your flock. I, like the bowman, can use a bow too, but mine was stolen from me shortly after I arrived at this city. Seems a better idea to teach me in the things I have talents for instead of what you think a female is only good for. To be honest though I’ve had my fill of humans, I’d rather leave and never come back, but you won’t allow that will you?”

She hadn’t lied, she had originally stuck around Kaska for her own reasons, but now she wanted so badly to go back to him. She would use the truth, though not the total truth, to try and win some kind of freedom under this one’s control. She was sure her friend would come, he promised that even if he couldn’t free her he’d take her life so that no one could hurt her. She didn’t want him hurt, but she knew he would come, she just had to survive. She knew he would understand, he did everything he had to to survive, he might even be proud of her for doing what she could. She then tilted her head with a sudden idea “If I prove talented enough, you might even find someone who could make full use of your skills should you choose to teach them. Teach me and I’ll have stories to tell, stories that I’d pass on to others, you’d have a name that spread. Naturally I wouldn’t stay here, you wouldn’t want someone poaching in your territory, but it would be great fun to build a legend from the one who taught me.”

Actually if she got free she’d give all the credit to Kaska and make this man out to be the villain. Still she had to try whatever she could, he might not be impressed, but the others around her might be. If not the adults, what about any children he had around? She had to try, she had to try to do whatever she could, even if she didn’t like it. He’d been right, she was innocent, but not as innocent as he might have thought. She listened, learned and didn’t turn down opportunities, but she wouldn’t betray her friend either. She’d find some way to get back to him, she just had to be patient.
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