Breaking In or Just Broken? (Amora Jade)

by **Kechaiya** on October 4th, 2014, 6:54 pm

Timestamp: Fall 16, 514
Location: Sunset Quarter
Time of Day: After sunset, 21st Bell

Kechaiya was exhausted. Ever since the violence broke out between the smaller gangs, she'd found herself incredibly busy. Her rounds that she made, looking for the wounded and sick, took all day, every day. It wasn't just the gang members getting injured either, for neutral citizens were dragged in as well. And with the gangs fighting, an increase in crime was occurring where ever they weren't. She trudged along through the Sunset Quarter, just wanting to pass out in her bed. He ribs were aching from a struggling man that had been rendered blind and struck her hard in the side.

Turning a corner into a small alleyway, she heard a low moan ahead of her. She drew her dagger from the waist of her skirt, letting her eyes adjust to the increased darkness caused by the closeness of the buildings. The moaning continued, and she could make out would appeared to be a man leaning against a wall in the corner of the alley. She turned her body sideways, parallel to the wall behind, so she could watch the apparently injured man, and see backwards into the alley. Creeping along, the groans continuing, sounding genuine to her.

She got close to him, holding her dagger out in front of her, and crouched down to get a better look at him. Kechaiya couldn't be sure if he was aware of her presence. There wasn't much light from Leth, but the corner allowed enough for her to see something shocking to her. The man was missing all of his teeth. She found herself wondering why someone would do this to another person. He had a few other superfluous wounds, bruises, scrapes, but nothing that appeared too serious. She poked him in the shoulder with the point of her dagger, "Wake up." The main stirred a little, but didn't regain consciousness.

She set her pack down next to her, and opened her herbalist kit within. She reached in and grabbed a small glass tube sealed with a cork. Inside was the oil from the plant known as Bon'mur. She brought it up to the man's nose, and removed the cork. As the aroma rose, the man came to suddenly. His eyes darted around in fear, "Calm. I fix you. You pay me. Understand?" The man nodded, seeing the dagger in her hand. "Stand?" The man using her and the walls around him, managed to rise, albeit slowly. She pointed down the alley, not where she'd come from, but intended to go, for there was a bit more light to work with. He was able to hold up most of weight, and when they reached the more well lit spot, she helped lower him down to a seated position. Ebony eyes began scanning the area. The alley spilled out into a small street, with another alley directly across. That alley was partially lit by Leth's smile, and Kechaiya saw no threats. "Pay now, then I fix." Kechaiya kept a look out, so that during the most important part of their transaction, they weren't interrupted.

by **Amora Jade** on October 13th, 2014, 3:13 am

Amora watched as a dancer twirled her way around the table and patrons in the tavern, entrancing them with each step she took. The thief never understood how men could be so easily fooled and come loose of their coin just by the moves of a woman. Of course, she wasn’t that type of woman either though. Never could she imagine herself being in that kind of position, letting the men gawk at her and putting herself in danger in such a way. If one of the men were to find the woman outside of the bar there would be no telling what he’d try to do to her.

The thought made the thief shiver as she turned to face the bar and finish her mug of ale. Amora set the empty mug down on the wood, the faintest sound of the metal clink could be heard by the thief over the loud music that was playing as she began to leave.

The girl weaved her way through the maze of people as she made her way to the door, only to be greeted by a gang member being thrown through it. Amora jumped out of the way just quick enough to be missed by the flying body and allowed his pursuer to enter before heading out.

Though violence in Sunberth was completely normal to witness, it seemed as if it was becoming worse. Gangs were suddenly feuding with each other and forcing random people on the streets to either join them or die.

Amora saw this as an opportunity to try something new. Picking pockets was not only something she enjoyed doing, but the one things that has kept herself and her mother alive for many years. The only problem was the limitations it had in such a poor city which was known for its thievery and violence. Most people knew better than to carry much coin or valuable objects on their person, especially if they weren’t very observant.

In the houses on the other hand…

In Amora’s mind there was no telling how many valuable things could be found hiding in the storage trunks of a person’s home. Surely not everyone in the city was piss-poor, they only pretended to be to keep the attention away from them… right?

It was a thought that she decided to ride with, one that had her stalking the alleyways close to where she lived and where some houses sat. The dark haired girl could hear a couple arguing from a distance- nothing that grabbed her attention at first, but she could hear one of them say they were “packing up and leaving this putrid city.”

Amora found herself walking in the direction she could hear the voices coming from. As she rounded a corner she could see the couple with bags packed in front of them. The woman seemed to be the one in an irate mood.

“I’m leaving! You can either stay in this dump ‘er come along with me!”

As the woman began to walk away the man quickly locked the door of the small cottage before chasing after her in a frantic manner. A intrigued smile spread across the thief’s face, it was the perfect opportunity.

Amora waited until the couple was out of sight before nearing the house and taking her place in front of the door. She lowered herself onto her knees and examined the lock she had to bypass to get to what she desired while pulling a pick and tension wrench from her back pocket.

To her it didn’t look like anything fancy, just a simple lock- enough to deter the common thief. Without much hesitation she put the wrench into the bottom of the slot and gently turned it a bit to see which way the lock would turn to open. It gave a bit more when she turning it to the right, so she kept it there with gentle pressure. Next she inserted the pick she had handy into the upper part of the lock and pushed it to the back.

Slowly she used the pick to try and set the four pins in place. The second one from the back set first, allowing her wrench to turn slightly more to the right. The thief kept very gentle pressure on the wrench while she worked, being sure not to turn it too far while still allowing it to move in the direction she needed.

The first pin set next. Amora’s heart began to race a bit in excitement to what she’d find on the other side of the door. The thief bit her lip and tried to keep reminding herself to be gentle. Locks were delicate and picky, needing just the right pressure and patience to open for someone without a key. The second pin from the front was the third to set. Almost there. The thief moved her pick further into the lock very slightly and moved it up to set the final pin.

A small click could be heard from the last pin as she turned the wrench to the right to allow the lock to turn. Amora couldn’t hear anything over her own heartbeat at that moment when the turned the knob and let herself into the residence. Her eyes scanned the area for a chest, wardrobe, or even kitchen drawer that may have been holding silver.

“There..” she whispered once she spotted a small chest that was left open by the couple who left. Amora leaped towards it and began to dig through its contents.

“Hey! Who the hell are you and what the petch are ya’ doin’ in here?”

The thief froze. Her gaze drifted upwards to see a man sleeping in the bed the chest laid at the end up. Amora couldn’t breathe or move. She thought the house was empty, had she known anyone was still there she wouldn’t dare take the chance of getting caught.

The man who spotted her jumped out of bed and grabbed the nearest weapon to him: a small dagger kept in the drawer of the nightstand beside the bed. As quickly as she could, Amora got to her feet and sprinted towards the door.

The frame which would normally hold the door quickly became occupied by the large build of the man who caught the thief in the act. He used his dagger as an extension of his hand, reaching out with it and wrapping its blade around her right shoulder; then pulled it back forcing her to come forward with it. Once her body was closer to his, he balled up the hand that didn’t hold the dagger and forced his fist into her stomach.

Amora fell to her knees in pain. The man lifted her by the back of her shirt and threw her onto the street outside of the house.

“Yer lucky I don’t fancy killin’ young women! But I better not catch you near this house again ya’ understand?!”

The thief groaned as the man disappeared behind the door, slamming it as loud as he could. She rolled over and got on all fours, crawling into the shadows of a thin alleyway. Amora refused to move. The girl sat there and babied her pain, waiting for it to fade.

Receipt-4 cm Ale
OOCSorry it's so long. .-. I really didn't mean for it to be, I just didn't want it to be four posts before they could interact.

by **Kechaiya** on October 24th, 2014, 3:13 pm

The poor, toothless man handed Kechaiya enough coin to satisfy her enough to begin her examination. "Open mouth wide." The man complied wearily, and Kechaiya peered into his eerily empty maw. She could see he had a couple teeth way in the back, the large crushing ones, still intact. Perhaps they were too difficult to get to. But many of the front teeth weren't cleanly pulled, for he'd been bashed repeatedly by some blunt object. Many of them were shattered, jagged, mere shards, and if left in, would lead to infections and further pain and damage. She reached into her pack, digging through her herbalist's kit, and pulling out a small pair of tweezers, normally used for plucking delicate flower petals.

"This hurt a lot. Try not move."

She gently reached her tweezers into his mouth, and grasped a small shard of tooth, causing the man to moan in pain. She plucked it easily out of the gums, realizing it hadn't been connected, and she watched as blood filled the small gap. She didn't bother attempting to staunch it though, wounds like that in the mouth had a tendency to work themselves out more quickly than others. She deposited the shard on the ground, and continued, for it would no longer be needed. Slowly and surely, she pulled shard and shattered teeth out of the man's gums, leaving him with a total of four intact molars in the back and three partially intact teeth elsewhere. Reaching into her pack once more, she pulled out a small pouch of dried leaves, Tolm. She handed them to the man. "Cook in hot water, let cool, get all over inside mouth. Help relieve pain."

She did a cursory examination of the rest of his wounds, bruises and scrapes mostly, and determined them to be superfluous. They would heal just fine on their own. "Get home safe." She quickly gathered up her things and left the man, turning out of the alley, looking forward to her comfortable bed. But it was not to be. A woman appeared to have been hurled bodily out of a home, landing hard on the ground. Kechaiya stopped and drew her dagger, just watching, waiting, seeing if the woman was dangerous. Holding the blade out in front of her, Kechaiya slowly tried to make her way around the woman. It was dark, but she didn't seem too injured, save her pride perhaps. Kechaiya just wanted to go home.

by **Amora Jade** on November 19th, 2014, 5:15 am

The growing pain in her stomach caused her to pull her knees to her chest. The faint sound of rocks rolling under the souls of her boots as she slid them nearer to her could be heard echoing through the thin alleyway where she sat. The thick fabric of her coat scraped against her breeches as she wrapped her arms around her knees a buried her cold face into them. Amora sniffed a bit, trying to bite back the tears that began to form in the corners of her big eyes. No matter how many beatings she endured, the dark haired thief would never grow used to it. An uncomfortable burning sensation began to form in the pit of her stomach. Amora gritted her teeth and dug her short bitten-off nails into the coarse wool that made her coat.

A single droplet of salty water managed to escape the tight grasp of her eyes and began to gently roll down her right cheek, leaving behind a very thin trail of water. The girl turned her head slightly, causing her hair to move around her back and fall to her right side as she did. She aggressively rubbed the wetted cheek onto her rough sleeve, not caring about the redness the fabric caused as it scratched against her skin. She sniffed again in an attempt to use every bit of willpower she had not to let another tear fall. The last thing she wanted was to be seen walking home with red blotchy eyes and a puffy face. The embarrassment would be something she would not want to have to deal with on top of the situation she just put herself in. She had no idea why in the world she thought the couple would leave the home vacant and only take a couple of bags with them. Of course someone else had to reside there. Or why the petch they would leave anything of value behind without someone to guard it.

It was a stupid, compulsive act she knew she should have thought out more. It was no wonder she found herself being beaten so often. If she would only take the time to think out and plan things she could avoid to much pain and so many bruises. It really was incredible she wasn’t already dead. Amora knew if she were to continue to live her life the way she did- living through the financial loss of others- she would need to learn to defend herself. The old dull blade her brother gave her when they were kids wasn’t going to do it for much longer. It wasn’t as if she knew how to use it anyway. The most she ever really used it for was to look intimidating and to clumsily stab or slash an attacker in a panic.

The dagger rarely ever got to taste blood, and that’s the way the thief liked to keep it. Unlike the majority of sickening souls that roamed the streets of Sunberth, Amora didn’t like the mere thought of killing someone- or even hurting someone for that matter. That was the incredible difference between herself and her brother. He found his way in the world as an assassin. It really wasn’t a surprise to her, though, considering the awful brutal murder of their father he unfortunately had to witness at a very young age. Amora was selfish and greedy, but she believed it was simply out of necessity. She hadn’t any skills of trade that could help her land a ‘safe’ job. The ability to dance or to properly seduce a man were foreign arts to her. Besides, just sticking her hand into the unaware pockets of people who passed by was very enjoyable for her.

It wasn’t really known to her that if she did learn how to do any sort of productive or payable service that she would actually use it. Amora knew that her father could have possibly made a good living by just simply being a laborer, cook, guardsman, or butcher, but he always chose the way of thievery over all of that. It was dangerous and stupid but he didn’t ever care. She guessed that something about breaking into someone’s home and taking things they worked so hard for gave him some sort of pleasure that having a ‘normal’ job wouldn’t. She wondered if she would be the same way if she ever were given the opportunity to do more with her life.

Amora’s mother wasn’t ever really a thief. A liar definitely, but not a thief. Rayana found her calling by selling people things that weren’t exactly what she made them out to be. She also had a knack for getting rid of sought-after items that went missing from the houses of the victims. It was a huge step up from being nearly sold into slavery and having been a beggar for so long. Neither Rayana or Amora possessed the womanly charm that so many men sought after, but Amora’s father, Ajak, fell for her mother the moment she pulled on his breeches while begging for her next meal. They were both incredibly young, but they both needed someone to lean on. He took her in and they stayed together through thick and thin, and two children. It wasn’t until Ajak died that they were ever separated, but Rayana still stayed faithful to her love by spending much of her time around the Slag Heap Fire to memorialize his place of physical departure.

Amora herself often could be found around the fire too, drinking and stealing from anyone who wasn’t paying enough attention in his honor. He was the one who inspired her to be the person she was. She knew that she would never have to kill her body by doing hard labor to make enough mizas to survive. She knew she would never have to even sell her body to be able to afford her next meal. She know she would never have to get on her hands and knees to beg for the spare change people didn’t really care about. He taught her that she could always just take what she needed and wanted. He taught her to never let anyone take advantage of her and that she was strong. It was unfortunate that she never really believed in her own strength or even taught herself to be able to fight off anyone who threatened to harm her in any way. If her father’s departure didn’t come so soon he would have been the one to teach her a thing or two. He wasn’t the strongest or the quickest, but he was very smart. He knew how to point out someone’s weak points by observing their movements, and he would use that to his advantage.

All she had to rely on was the pathetic dull dagger her brother gave to her so many years ago. He could have been the one to teach her but the thought of revenge drove his actions more than his love for his family. One day she’d learn, and one day she’d be the richest thief to ever exist.

Something warm began to track down her right arm, causing the thief’s head to shoot up and her left hand to immediately grab her shoulder. Her cold fingers could feel that the coarse wool had been cut through, and that there was a warm liquid that stained the outside of the fabric. Amora allowed her fingers to trail into the opening. The wool gently scratched against her skin as she tried to assess the damage the man caused to her. The slightest touch to her separated skin caused her to flinch in pain and grit her teeth. She was trying harder than before to fight back the tears that started to form up again, only a few being able to escape. The dark haired girl slid her left hand down her rough sleeve to her right elbow, then wrapped her fingers around it and tried to twist her arm to see how deep the cut was. She hadn’t even noticed until that moment that the man had actually cut her. The dagger that he used must have had to be very well-sharpened to be able to cut through her thick jacket and skin with such ease. Amora put herself in an awkward position, making the pain in her stomach grow more, to try to look at it.

Out of the corner of her left eye she could see the shadow of someone approaching her. Quickly she used the rough sleeve that hadn’t been cut to wipe away the tears that had managed to fall. Amora pushed the soft palms of her hands against the hard wood of the building that she leaned against, then shifted her weight to where she could slide her right foot under her and push herself onto her feet. A rush of sharp pain through her abdomen caused her to wrap her arms around her midsection and rest her bottom against the wall once more while doubled over in pain. She let out a small groan and turned her head to try to see who was nearing her, but was unable to due to the amount of hair that shielded her view.

With one hand she tangled her fingers into her thick black hair and tried to create a gap through the curtain of long strands that obstructed her view. All she could make out was that the person was indeed a female, and she was armed.

“Oh please just put that away. I have no miza and my clothes aren’t worth your time I promise,” she lied. At least about the mizas anyway. She did have a few copper and a couple silver tucked away in the side of her left boot, but she really didn’t feel like giving it up- even if that meant another beating. From the looks of the woman though, she seemed to be well matched.

OOCUuugghh I can't make my brain puke up anymore useless reply material XD I tried..
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by **Amora Jade** on December 2nd, 2014, 2:27 am

OOC Note: Okaayy, since Kech is gone now I'm just gonna say she convinced Amora to get sewed up by telling her that basically her arm would fall off from infection if she didn't and Amora paid her and they went home. Also, I sincerely apologize to the grader, the second post was filled with useless babbling info as a joke for Kech, she (he actually) wanted it. But thanks for the grade!

Receipt: -2gm for being sewed up.

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