Closed Stealth Tactics (Revy)

[Ana Sol Starris]

Spring 14th, 513AV War Fields Just two days since the blown out of proportion incident involving she, and her friends, and just two days for Ana to realize that perhaps it would be best to give people space, become invisible, it wasn't hard in all honesty. Like a ghost, she snuck out of the Hostel at the crack of dawn, long before her friends would even begin to wake up. Then she would proceed to get lost within Nyka, a terrible process, and long winded- sometimes even dangerously close to dusk. There was something about the night that unnerved the thief, despite being one for the shadow, and art of stealth; there was something lurking in the streets. What that something was Ana would never know, nor did she care to, or at least she didn't care until it affected her in some way, shape, or form. Sneaking out was rather easy, the difficult bit was finding something to do that didn't involve pissing on Monks, passing them, or getting involved with them at all- they were the least of her problems, being a foreigner. Since today would be the second day she had to find something to do other than bother her friends, she decided to approach a citizen rather cautiously. Their colorful and rather wispy, bright attire was never hard to miss compared to the drudges of black and greys Ana generally wore in the first place. Up she went to a rather gangly looking man, tall, spidery, and pale with dark hair. Ana went up to him and asked in a rather inquisitive tone "excuse me, but do you know where I could go.. uh.. to train?" It was simple enough, did he, or did he not? The man stared at her, cocking his head to the side to look at the strange woman asking him a simple question- "eh, could go to the War Fields for that" he said. "War Fields?" Ana echoed the name, raising an eyebrow at the man. "Aye, over in the West Quarter- monks use it to hone their skills, 'pparently.." He concluded, now squinting at her as if he were semi-blind, Ana took note of this with a rather thoughtful look to what he was saying. Ana crossed her arms and then asked out loud "the West Quarter is, where, again?" He pointed in a westwardly direction "thatta way, though you.. Hey, you're a foreigner, every Nykan knows about the War Fields, and where they're located.. Git!" The man flailed a hand at the thief to shoo her away, but she had already passed him and went on her merry way. Thoughts of perhaps stealing from him had entered her mind, but if he was somewhat blind, then he probably needed the coin more than she did- or that was her assumption. Silly blind people, making one thief with a smidgeon of honor feel guilty. Anyways, she began to amble about the streets to the west, it might have taken her a good bell or two to find the bridge she needed to cross, and then to the Fields themselves, but she finally arrived. What happened next, Ana could have hardly fathomed. It hadn't taken her long to get lost within the maze known as the War Fields; actually, it was more a small scale city than a field of blood and terror. At times Ana felt as if she stuck out against the sandstone rock, the same golden light brown color rock as the main cities buildings, at least in the city there had been people to mask her presence in the form of blending in with the populace. Here it was barren, and dusty, with not a soul to find her within the empty grasp of 'fear' inside the maze- Petch, why am I the one that is always getting lost? Have I really lost my touch navigating actual streets? How long has it been since I've been in Sunberth... a year? It was a sad thought laced with a growing frustration, it only made her think of the time back when all had been good. There was no Spires, there was no Jakobi, and there most certainly was not a Revy to bother her after she had disappeared from the mercenary that one day in the streets. Shimmying along a wall, Ana looked around a corner to see a heap of brown and red bloodied rags laying decrepit on the ground- Oh look, it seems a Monk was taken down.. From where Ana was, it looked as if the heap of rags was in the form of person, just all messed up and probably laying in a fetal position. Not one to pass up an opportunity to search an unconscience body, Ana strode out from the corner she had hidden behind and made her way to the poor 'monk'. Up close Ana could see that it was just robes and knelt to move the robes around when she heard something land behind her, quietly, if it hadn't of been for the wispy flapping of clothing against air- Ana might just not of noticed at all. She was in a position where if she moved at the right moment she could rotate her body and slide a leg out to trip the figure- if she did it at the right time, that is with the right amount of force. Appearing to not notice the presence, Ana took note of the approaching shadow peeking out from her shoulder and made her move. Turning as best as she could, Ana placed a hand flat on the ground whilst grabbing onto the rags and throwing them at her would be attacker in surprise, sliding a foot out to sweep the assailants legs out from underneath him and sent them in a sprawl downwards. She had done it correctly, but her small weight had only staggered her would be attacker- a somewhat larger male in the accustomed colorful clothing of a citizen. Making the staff he had raised up to strike her with miss, and then swerve to the side of her, right past her nose to make a devestating smack on the stony earth. Shyke! Ana hissed inwardly as she tried to crawl, and stumble away from the fool- he grabbed the back of her shirt to pull her back and onto the ground, throwing the rags he had been caught with next to her. This time there wasn't enough time to scramble away from him, he grabbed the front of her shirt and wound his fist up to smash her face in. He might have succeeded if not for... Ana latching hold of his hand which held her shirt, and then kicking hard up into his pride and glory with a sharply booted foot. Sending him down into a world of pain, squeeking as he held his now inadequete baby making jewels. Crawling out from underneath him, she quickly made work of his person. "Petching little shyke.." Ana muttered under her breath. While he was incapcitated, Ana searched his person for valuables and pocketed anything she found; and just like that Ana was gone around another corner as if nothing had happened. Taking more turns and corners, it wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that Ana started to worry about her predicament. One particular corner caught her off guard as she made way to turn, and gods petch her, it was Revy walking her way- jolting back behind the corner, Ana ran the other way to hide behind another corner. Heart pounding against her chest, she wasn't ready to take on that vagik head on. Carefully pulling her dagger from its sheathe, she pressed against the wall and held the handle in both hands while she waited for that woman to come around. Hopefully Ana could sneak attack her by winding the blade around and smashing the pommel up into the woman's face, if that didn't work then she would high tail it away again and keep her distance. Hopefully in the form of stealth... and striking, and then retreating from other sides (and Ana knew that would require an understanding of the maze, what better way to start than right now?) ooc...that must be a pretty low skilled trainee... >.> Shhhh... Ana's not really all that cool...

[Revy Hiroe]

It was early in the morning, very early even, when the mercenary woke up. Her body felt refreshed and she could only smile as she saw the naked Zand next to her. The memories of last night replayed themselves before her eyes and drew out a blush on her face. Why had she ever left Zand's side? And why did she hold all physical contact at bay for all this time? It felt great to be embraced by the one you love like this. But even though Revy lay there like that, she had to get out. She needed to train, clear her mind of the dark memories that started to shimmer at the edges of her mind. Those had to keep at bay at all costs. She did not want to have the same problem as she had back in Syliras. Zandelia couldn't help with that, or so the mercenary thought. So she just put on her leather armor, strapped her greatsword to her back and slid her longsword in her belt. She was ready to go train now. She made sure to leave the sleeping woman asleep as she left the room. "See you tonight, Zand.", she thought affectionately. She knew that the other would not like it that Revy had just left the bed while leaving her asleep. She'd pay the price for that tonight most likely. After leaving the tavern, the first thing the mercenary did was stretch out. "Right, a place to train quietly.", she mumbled out loud to herself. However she didn't know of such a place in Nyka. Yesterday's tour didn't include this unfortunately. This forced her to ask one of the very few passerby's. However, Revy was still an outsider and her getup wasn't particularly helping either. "Oi, you. Can you point a training area out for me? I just want to train in quiet, so I won't annoy you Nykans." The Nykan looked at her with mixed emotions. The one showing the most was hostility. "Just go outside the city, or go to the warfields. Over yonder.", he said, pointing out both directions. "Now scram. I hate dealing with... outsiders." "Huh? What was that, piece of shyke? Want me to tear you a new one?", she barked at him. The man winced back, clearly intimidated and scurried off. What a weakling he was. Couldn't even handle a little intimidation. Not that it mattered. Anyway, it was time to head to the warfields as the mercenary wasn't too keen on venturing outside. It did take her a while to reach it and it perplexed her once she saw it. They weren't truly fields as the name suggested, but it looked like a miniature city. She could faintly hear some screams coming from within it. Obviously others were already training. That was only better for her as it provided her with some training partners. Revy ventured through the maze of narrow passages, broad ones and whatever else there was for half a chime before she finally met someone. The guy had been shadowsparring, but the moment he saw the mercenary he could only grin. A woman carrying two weapons, one which seemed as if she wouldn't even be able to hold it up. How wrong it was of him to challenge her. "Oi woman, you shouldn't have come here, now I gotta beat and rape you.", he told her as he readied his sabre. The mercenary looked at the guy and saw the numerous gaps in his defense, not to mention that he held his weapon just like a random thug from Sunberth would hold a weapon. "Dude, you don't know what you're dealing with. You rape me? You're going to end up cleaved in half, so goodbye.", she replied to him as she drew her greatsword. She knew that her skill with this weapon wasn't too great, but against an opponent like this, it would suffice. And it was proven even more as the guy came charging straight at her, leaving him completely open to a well placed dodge-and-counter. Just before he reached the mercenary, she moved her hind leg behind her forward one, ready to spin around him as he'd utterly fail his attack. The moment she got behind him, she raised her sword high above her head and just whispered: "Goodbye, petcher." Then she brought it down upon the guy, who desperately tried to block it with his small weapon, but the weight of the weapon, along with the momentum, smashed through his feeble defense and just cleaved him in half. And as per usual, Revy was now covered in blood... again. A memory shimmered at the edge of her brain. One from back in Sunberth, but she couldn't recall it completely. It bugged her nothing more. Soon she found a secluded spot where she could go practice her swings again. Sets of fifty, broken up by five chimes of calming each time. The sets of swings were done with her greatsword following the pattern: Raise it up, small step forward while slashing forward, letting the tip drop no lower then hipheight and then move the hind leg in. Then this was repeated, but the footwork reversed. The moments of rest were done by her sitting down, laying her greatsword over her lap as she rested her hands on top of it. With closed eyes, she focussed on her breath while she could almost feel Isa looking at her, ready to slap her shoulders if she'd lose her focus. Around noon she finally stopped her practice. Sweat gleamed on her body and exposed arms. It felt quite good to be able to practice like this without too many interruptions, nor having to be on the lookout for wild creatures. The only thing she had to watch out for was other people that wanted to have their way with her. It was time to head back. Zandelia should be wondering where Revy was by now. However, on her way out of the warfields, she saw a fleeting shadow dart around the corner. While that in itself wasn't really worrying, it was worrying that it resembled something that the mercenary had rather avoided for now. So, she walked towards the corner, not aware of the intent of the other. And as she almost turned around it, saw the butt of a dagger coming straight for her face. In an attempt to avoid it, she turned her face away, only to get hit on the side of her head. "Petching bastard! I'ma bloody kill ya!", she blurted out before knowing who the assailant was. Only when she looked up, did she see that it was indeed Ana. That whore was going to die today. How dare she attack Revy without any reason. "Oi you petching whore. Once I catch you... and I assure you I will... I'll gut you, then skin you alive.", she yelled at the back of the fleeing Ana. Drawing her greatsword, she gave chase, blinded by anger.

OOCI told you it was a monsterpost

[Ana Sol Starris]

With the connection of pommel to temple, Ana fled as fast as she could the other way, opposite Revy. What had she done. Dear gods, what had she just done! Gotta run. Gotta run. Gotta run. The simple, and short phrase repeatedly hammered her mind, sending her legs faster through the maze. Ana didn't make sure to look back, too focused on escape and making a certain turn. If for whatever reason that Revy managed to catch up to the fleeing girl, swinging the blade at her, Ana would jump forwards to give herself a boost to avoid the attack, lowering her front, and barrelling away as fast as she still could with frantic, erratic, breathless puffs of air. Nevermind sheathing the dagger, she held onto it for dear life as she ran. Throwing one of her arms out to catch a corner of a turn to keep on running at the same momentum, she felt her body tilt with the twirl of the turn, almost tripping faceflat but Ana forced her body to upright itself and continue on. Her heart was ramming itself against her chest so hard that she feared it might have jumped right out of her throat with every quickly growing ragged breath she took. Glancing backwards, Ana saw that Revy wasn't far behind, keeping up, but not within swinging distance. Looking back in front of her, Ana quickly realized she had ran herself into a dead end after so many different turns and angles. Crap. CRAP. CRAP! Don't slow down Ana. Do not slow down. Thoughts hurridly chided her, feeling the reserves of her energy beginning to waver. Pushing forwards at full speed, Ana ran straight at the wall, within but two feet of it she would jump to connect a foot to the wall, turning her body and pushing off to let her other foot connect with the wall adjacent to it. DO IT. DO IT. Ana's legs seemed to scream in pain and terror at the anticipated fall, but she would not let that happen, Ana would not let herself fall. With another push towards the wall she had previously jumped on, she lifted her arms to catch the side of the wall, hands grasping the edges top. Pulling. "PULL." Screamed Ana, with an impeccable feat of willpower began pulling herself up. Her arms supported her weight, and the momentum of her jump pushed her up, muscles screaming, heart crying, lungs demanding air and a break from the sprint, swinging her leg to catch the edge of the wall, and pulling herself up it and straddling the edge afterwards shaking. Cold sweat dripped down her forehead as her body convulsed in shakes, hot flashes meeting the coolness of percipitation that formed on her skin, mouth exhaling, and inhaling sweet breaths of air, filling her lungs with it, and pushing out the old, used up air. Down below, Ana saw Revy coming quickly. Pulling her other leg over the wall and out of the swords range to keep it from being chopped off, Ana lifted a hand to feel her head, temples pounding. Everything felt light, dizzy, she felt as if she were about to be sick. She must have looked as if she were about to hurl too, face paler than ever, tinged with green. Much like a duck, she sat there, disbelieving of her situation, and how she had even managed. Inwardly she thanked Ximal at the beginning of the season for showing her how to do that. It might have just saved her life. Holding the dagger out, Ana called down, slowly between breathes, and much gasping, and panting. Petch off Revy. Petch. Off. "Try to climb up.... gasp.... pant... It won't be a pommel... pant.. Next time..." aiming it at the woman, point out, saying she was serious. Dead serious.

[Revy Hiroe]

The mercenary just chased after the little girl, having a hard time keeping up. At every turn, she could just barely see her target go around another. "That bloody slut is fast. No matter, I'll catch her anyway.", she thought to herself, while dragging her greatsword along as she ran. However, when she saw that Ana had run herself into a dead end, she thought that she had the girl. Only then did she see what that girl pulled off. She used the walls to her favor to get on top of them? What was she? A bloody monkey or so? She was quite out of breath, running around, with both her greatsword in her hands and her longsword on her hip, was rather tiring. She hadn't trained her stamina for running enough, so that was even worse, but now it didn't matter. That girl sat on top of the wall and Revy had time. Maybe now was the time to find out why this girl hated her so much. "Yeah yeah, you come down here first. I got plenty of time.", she said as she smirked. "Also, why the petch do you hate me so? Have I met you before? I don't remember much from times where I was drunk, which was about my whole bloody life.", she asked the girl then.

[Ana Sol Starris]

Good, the vagik hadn't attempted to climb up the wall after her, and Ana was still very amazed at herself that she even managed to get up the wall in the first place. If she hadn't, she might have been greeted by a blade to the face; what a terrible thought that was to Ana. Yet it seemed the vagik entertained a bit of conversation, something Ana wasn't quite sure Revy was capable of "I think I'll stay up here.." "..and you can petch off." Ana glared down at the woman, feeling a shake, and buzz begin in her legs from the sprint. There wasn't any way she could run, let alone walk effectively now, not until the feeling in her legs came back soon. Or that the beat in her chest ceased its rapid melody against her chest. Glancing down the wall on the side which did not have Revy, she wondered if she could even jump down, let alone easily climb down, she had never been going down, as she was going up. Two entirely different processes, and only one she seemed to have better experience with; considering her childhood. Right now wasn't the time to have pleasent conversations, Ana would have to come down eventually, and when she did, she was more likely to meet the wrath of Revy before any substancial ground was made. Of course she could just walk along the walls, once her strength and stamina came back, but then she would have to find a way to get down without Revy having an easy time finding her. The thief looked around the maze itself, squiggles of walls from above, but that was when an idea came to Ana- she would buy herself enough time to recover. "Y'know, I'm sorry.. That you're a vagik.. and a delusionally insane freak.." Ana looked back down to Revy, throwing a smile on; bitter with many poisons "but I really pity your memory, that you would mistake an urchin for your own sister.. You're really pathetic, don't you understand that is an insult to your sister's memory? From what I understood.. and from what I can salvage from my own memory, your sister was a very sweet girl.." Ana was buying time, but she was also stretching the truth. If she had been honest, she didn't remember much from that time; only that she utterly despised this filth for making the mistake to think Ana was her sister.. Worse, now that she had taken Zandelia from her grasp. The thief had to assume what she was saying, was true, she had to believe that Revy's dead sister was the opposite of herself. For Ana was anything but sweet. "Maybe if you hadn't spent your life drunk, you'd have noticed that we were not the same person."

[Revy Hiroe]

The mercenary had expected as much. If that girl was a smart girl, she wouldn't come down even if it meant staying up there all night. The woman was pissed off beyond reason and because of that she knew that that petcher would die even before she'd hit the ground. "O really? You'll have to come down eventually you know.", she said as she smirked evil. And then... Ana started about Revy's sister and how she mistook that runt for that dead person. The worst part of her words was the last bit.... about her spending her life drunk. Perhaps Revy had a reason for that. Perhaps it was to keep the nightmares away. "Oh? So you admit that you're a petcher that has no value to live? Good, then we agree on that point. Perhaps it'd be best if you just dropped on the tip of your blade if you hate yourself that much.", she told the girl with the most vile tone she could manage. Still the comment about her spending her life drunk, stung. She had to retort for that at least. "By the way, how was your childhood? I'm sure you at least HAD ONE.", she spat out. The mercenary was sure that that girl had at least a decent childhood. Even if they had lived their entire life in the slums, they wouldn't know any better. But if you had a family and saw them killed before your eyes... you would know what it meant to lose something dear to you. This girl most likely didn't know of that.

[Ana Sol Starris]

At first she was confused, the look on her face signalled that as she stared down from the wall, what had Revy meant? Ana wasn't talking about herself so why was Revy trying to project Ana's own words back onto her. The merc was doing it poorly, and Ana saw right through it, if she wanted to play that game then so be it. The confusion slipped to reassurance, a hint of a smile dancing across her lips as she held back laughter.
"I meant you.. What an immature method to yank at my chains" her shoulders relaxed, swinging her feet back and forth on the wall "and suddenly you want to know about my past? Tough luck for you.. Only a few people know at all."

There was a pause, her eyes roamed hazily around the surrounding areas, taking in the tops of the walls she could walk on and out of the maze if she were lucky enough to not fall off. The patterns sprawled out everywhere, pathes that looked unique, choices that had to be made, a different outcome each time a dead end would be reached or when another path opened up. It gave Ana an idea.
"Why don't you ask Zandelia?" She breathed out to the air, continuing without waiting for a response from Revy "she knows all about it when we grew exceptionally close back in Spires.."

The bait had been set.

She had placed more emphasis on the word 'close', hinting at an underlying suggestion that Ana did not mean close, as in friendship wise, but in a more intimate setting between the two women.

All the while Ana kept her gaze off the merc, searching slowly for the exit as she did so, trying to keep a mental image of different ways the pathes created in her head. The back of her heel knocked quietly against the wall, thoughts coming to light.
"Oh, but I bet she hadn't told you about that part, am I right?" The truth was Zandelia did not know the whole story, only bits and pieces of it, and that would be enough to catch fire. Ana hoped Zandelia would regret crossing her like this, no matter how sorry she was for doing what she had to the one eyed woman earlier in the season. There was still fractured pieces of frustration, rage even, secretly angry at Zandelia for abandoning her so quickly... and for what? That piece of rubbish..

Gold eyes found their way downwards to look at Revy, disdainfully, at the mere thought.

[Revy Hiroe]

I... immature? Probably, but it was nothing but the truth. That girl should've had a proper childhood. After all... she didn't recognize the same look she had seen in her own eyes. The eyes of someone who had their childhood taken away looked... different. "Perhaps, but I apparently hit the nail on the head. So this little miss is pissed of that I took away her toy. Well... curse all you want, because you're the one to blame.", she sneered. She felt confident towards this... brat now. But the next words stung.... She and Zandelia had grown close.... Petch... She wanted to cuss at her, yank her eyeballs out, but managed to keep all those thoughts hidden. "Oh, and why should I care about something that has happened in the past, hmm? That was her choice back then. Right now she's with me and I intend to keep her. If you wanna get in between... keep in mind that you will not get away unharmed." Of course Revy hadn't known that yet, it had only been a few days since she met Zandelia again. It had been far too little time to talk to eachother properly. Best way out is lying of course, that girl had to be brought off balance. "Oh, are you so sure of that? Because.... I might know more then you think I do.", she said hinting that she knew more. That mongrel shouldn't know that the mercenary had been lying, because she was confident that she was able to hide her true feelings well enough.

[Ana Sol Starris]

Ana only watched and listened, the blood in her veins heated up, while a muscle in her face twitched. It was all she could do lest she do something stupid instead. She had made too many mistakes before and she wasn't about to let wording from her nemisis send her over the edge. The trigger had been calling Zandelia a toy, and then insinuating that Ana thought that of Zandelia, something that was no better than an inanimate object easily broken and thrown away. No. Ana did not think that of the one eyed woman, and for this bitch, Revy, to even suggest that. Well, it made her angry to the point of feeling the need to stab something.

"Don't ever call her a toy again you sack of shyke." It was an unnatural growl from the thief, but the words wouldn't stop, she might have had control over her body but her mouth was an entirely different story. "Zandelia is more to me than some mere object, she is my mother, my sister, friend, and mentor, and here you come along from gods forsaken Sunberth, and mess everything up! We had plans together to get done! You bitch. You screwed everything up! The moment I saw you, I knew you were going to be petching trouble!"
Now, granted it had been Ana that let her mouth fly earlier on in the season, and that it was indeed her fault for causing that rift because of a few unstrung thoughts and words, but she wasn't about to admit that in front of this dirty cur.

All Ana could think of why the gods cursed her so? Revy should have just died back in Sunberth, or on her way to Nyka, eaten by monsters, and then none of this would be happening in the first place. She had the worst luck.

Gritting her teeth harder with every tick that passed, there was a tension in her jaw, and a throbbing pain in the back of her mouth around her molars. What Ana needed to do was get away from Revy but granted the current situation she was unable to that, and so high up too. Certain that if she jumped down right then and there she would sprain her ankle, or break a bone, it just didn't seem to be worth it right then and there. Fiddling with the dagger in her hands, why she hadn't stabbed Revy in the first place was beyond her, but she regretted the decision.
Taking a deep breath to calm her aggravated expression, and violent thoughts. "Tell me the specifics then." Ana wouldn't have put it past Zandelia to not say anything, but Ana knew just as much about her history, as she knew Ana's. The woman was not stupid. Nor was Ana... Most of the time.

"Until you can, you're lieing.. Zandelia isn't batshyke stupid like you. I know just as much about her history as she does mine. If she told you anything of mine, then I will spread hers, fair is fair, after all. So you better be telling the truth, or I will let all of Nyka know her story." Ana was serious, maybe with a hint of bluff just to scare the woman into saying something that would proove her wrong, but Ana wouldn't be afraid to go along with what she said. That little detail seperated her from other thieves who used bluffs to get what they wanted, but could never follow through.
"So, let's hear your rendition of my past." Ana was not questioning Revy, she was a demanding a story. "If you turn around, I'll consider that you're lieing, and if you attack, I'll definitely know you're lieing to me."

"..and before you take the violent route.. Let's review previous actions.. I could have killed you if I had chosen to use the blade instead of the pommel." Ana added on as an after thought, it was true, Ana could have but she chose not to. "I think that means you owe me a favor, let us consider it paid in full if we both walk away from this alive."

[Aoren]

Riddled With Rewards Revy Experience Skill XP Earned Intimidation + 3 EXP Observation + 1 EXP Weapon: Greatsword + 2 EXP Bodybuilding +1 EXP Rhetoric +3 EXP Running +1 EXP Interrogation +1 EXP Lores • Lore Earned • Location: The Nykan Warfields • Observational Insight: Assessing A Man’s Threat Level • Greatsword Technique: Cleave • Greatsword Technique: Thrust • Greatsword Technique: Parry • Greatsword Technique: Slash • Rhetoric: Colorful Insults • Running: Keeping Pace While Encumbered By Weapons • Intimidation: The Art of A Pointed Threat Notes : Enjoy your rewards! If I missed something let me know.  If you have comments, questions or concerns please approach me at your earliest convenience. Don't forget to edit/delete your request in the request thread!