[Castle Commons]Vigilante Flavored Justice[Guest Moderation]

[Clyde Sullins]

18 Spring 512 It was an ordinary day. If you could consider any day ordinary, so soon after the recent djed storm. Along with that, food had become scarce, and the prices for it had risen dramatically. For that reason, along with others, people were out in full force in the commons. Some were there to lighten others pockets. Some were there to see if there was any food to buy. And some were there to protect the food vendors, guards and such. This man was one of those guards. Just at 6 foot, with short cut blonde hair, and his eyes shifting warily, showing his caution. He had just been payed for his services, and his money-pouch was a bit heavier for it, and he wanted to make it to were he would feel safe with it, perhaps even spend some of it... Of course there were many people out in the streets, in the alleyways... He would be hard pressed to watch them all, and stop any attempt to try and rob him... His money-pouch was almost begging to be stolen, if a thief had the ability to hear it...

[Ana Sol Starris]

"Aauughhh.." A yawn to the air, the sky, the people, Ana groaned lightly as she lifted her arms up to stretch after a morning of brief training with the weapon Zandelia had gifted to her. The big cloak around her shoulders that hid most of what was around Ana, revealed her clothes that hid her less than busty body from veiw. Skinny, perhaps even under fed but now just starting to fill out around the corners. Eyes, with dark circles under them, giving away her less than normal sleeping habits in the night. Even her greasy hair screamed signs of stress, messily tied into a bun, the blonde locks poked out from their bondage and fell in front of her eyes like bangs. Constantly, she kept pushing the strands behind her ears in annoyance, one of these days she would have to get her hair cut.. Reluctant at the idea, she had never gotten to it. Walking to the castle commons, she had a pocket with a few mizas inside and then her own meager purse hidden within her shirt and around her neck, bumping against the mysterious key that was slung around there. With a grumble, her stomach poked and prodded her mind for nourishment. Perhaps today she would buy something, instead of steal.. She had been noticing the eyes lately upon her person, had the shopkeepers and gaurds begun to finally notice where their goods were dissapearing? Had they connected the dots? Blonde hair, missing food, blondey gone. It was quite obvious, however this didn't stop her from reguarly visiting even though small alarms went off in the back of her mind to be more careful. Confidence, she was far too proud of her ability, or rather, her luck to remain uncaught, luck, it was just pure luck. Why, if it hadn't of been luck then she would be suffering a worse repuation in these parts by now, even run out from the commons area the moment she entered. However, this was not the case for the small woman, the little thief. Moving from stall to stall, she browsed goods and let her stomach direct her where to go, maybe a bread stand? Naww.. That was all she ever really ate, as much as she loved the yeast product, it couldn't possibly be healthy all the time. Vegetables? Raw? Ew, Ana cringed inwardly at the thought.. She did not want to munch on energy providing products like a rabbit. Could she cook them? Well, she could most certainly try.. But she didn't have the equipment nor the know how to do so. Scanning over the selection of veggies, it was meager, with the prices for food way up. Ana couldn't be petched to buy anything now, stealing, yes. Grumbling lightly to herself as she continued to look around, maybe for a stand that actually had items cooked? Hmm, the thought was desirable but, oh petch it! Another grumble sent the thiefs mood sky rocketing downwards, she had tried to be conscientous of her eating habits, but in the end she chose a bread stall with fresh baked loaves sitting. Staring at the bread with her wanting and large, darken circled eyes, the prices were absolutely ingorgible lately. Irritation spread through her features, indecision flashed through her demeanor. Of all days, she had forgotten to pay attention for gaurds because of such a confident manner, there were always people standing around with weapons at their sides, it was normal, to be expected. Quickly, Ana chose a target who would be paying for her meal.. Without actually looking him over, the small thief stepped fowards and reached to the side, perhaps a little too close for comfort for the man, as he would perhaps have trouble seeing her hands but she managed to filch the purse away from him as lightly as she could, gripping it tightly she tryed to appear normal. The purse seemed to have a signifigant amount of coin inside it to Anas horror and pleasure, paling under realization of how stupid she had been just then, it was heavy enough for the man to notice a difference of weight in his pockets! Ana tensed up by instinct, ready for any form of capture towards her, she would sprint away as fast as she could and hope she could lodge herself into a crowd as stealthily as she could. This was all hypothetical of course, if she could escape in the first place.

[Clyde Sullins]

Luckily for Ana, the guard did not notice as the woman snuck up to him. There were so many people, he was a bit overloaded trying to figure things out. She ended up timing it right, so she passed him and attempted the lift, just as several other people passed, some from both directions. As she had soon realized, by the weight of the purse, the man knew almost right away he had been robbed. He tensed up, and looked around... But there were about four people who were close enough to have done it... One of which was Ana... He yelled out "thief", and struck at the closest one, catching him in the head with his fist. A man, about his own height. When he did not spill any coins, he moved on to the next, and made a swing at him. But by then, the others, a man, a woman, and Ana, would noticed what had happened, and had time to run. Luckily for Ana, she was one of the faster ones, and got clear. The man that was robbed only had time to go after one more, and tackled the woman from behind... But she also did not have the money... And by then Ana would have vanished into the crowd. No one had responded upon him yelling thief, or him punching the first guy. But tackling the woman tripped a guy, who went head first through a table, tipping a stack of crates... Causing a big scene... She would have time to get a bit away... Getting lost in the crowd... But would not realize that she was being watched... That someone had seen the whole thing, and seen what she had done... Once she got alone, perhaps down an alley, or wherever, she would hear the twang of a bow, and an instant later, an arrow was in the ground before her, just two paces ahead... But what would she do? Were had the arrow come from?

[Ana Sol Starris]

"Thief!" The man yelled out, ducking as the man landed a fist in another mans face. Ana was on her arse as she began to back away, next to the man and woman now who took off like the wind. Ana did the same but she was faster, scrambling up, she zoomed past them to the crowds, lodging herself into them and moving out of them. Darting from crowd to crowd as best she could as they were walking, or standing, with the possible threat of being ratted out by the gaurd for staying in the castle commons. Ana began to make her way out, placing the purse into her pocket as she cautiously made her way out of the area. With adrenaline pumping through her veins and fear binding her mind, she continuously scanned the area for the man.. But only to realize she hadn't gotten a good look at him in the first place. How would she know who was who between people? For all she knew... He could be standing next to her. Ana seemed to pale even further at the thought, she had to leave the castle commons, NOW. So she did, dissapointed she would not be able to eat right away.. What was she to do for food now? She thought to herself lightly, trying to think of places that offered food as she shiftily made her way through the streets. Then an idea hit her, she could go to the nearest tavern and buy food there! It was a brilliant idea and she had the coin to do so freely, grinning widely at the thought only to halt grip her stomach as it growled unmercifully. Grimacing, she was becoming such a softy on lack of food due to getting more to eat since the Crimson Edge, looking around, she took the nearest alleyway and moved along the walls. Restless in vacant streets, Ana wanted to get out of these types of places as fast as she could... She had certainly learned her lesson from doing that, with little to no people for cover, she wouldn't be able to hide in the masses like she could in highly populated areas of the city. The thought of being caught once more in empty streets made her shudder involuntaryly. Wrenmae had been met in this way and he scared the living daylights out of her in the process, luckily he had spared her.. With an absent minded shake of her head she moved along the shadowed part of the wall, eyes always scanning for trouble and for the nearest hiding spot. Running her hand against the wall as she did so, she stoppeda few paces before the entrance of another street before continueing on she leaned fowards to look into it, seeing nothing, no one she breathed a sigh of relief and continued on. Only to throw herself back suddenly as an unidentifyed flying object embedded itself into the ground before her. Landing her arse, again, she backed away from it and gazed hard to realize it was an arrow shaft. Snapping her gaze upwards to the roof, there was no one in the alleyway.. What other way to look for someone was there other than up? Scrambling up, she pressed herself against the wall, into the shadow with her chest hammering harder in her chest than when she would run like a mad woman away from danger. The cloak served to mask her body in the shadows of the building, stealth, she was sneaky, a thief, what other purpose did a black cloak serve other than to aid a thief?

[Clyde Sullins]

What was better for hiding than sneaking? In this case, knowing how to blend in with camouflage. What had appeared to be a dark empty alley, was suddenly not so empty. Suddenly a bit of the wall that had looked blank, was moving. Once she focused on it, she would see that it was actually a person. When he had been still, he had sort of blended in with the wall, his cloak a neutral color that seemed to match the wall... And even if she missed this sudden movement, and was not looking in the direction, she would hear the snick of his blade, as the longsword left its sheath, as he pulled out a buckler in his other hand, and spoke to her in a strong voice full of conviction. "Turn over your ill gotten good, you scoundrel, you petty thief! Trying to steal the fruit of an honest mans work!" Being the gentlemen that he was, the man would give the thief a moment to take out her weapons, and then close in ready to fight.

[Ana Sol Starris]

Ana continued trying to look for whom ever had shot that arrow, possibly from the roofs, but at further inspection of the direction. The shaft was pointed in an angle almost impossible to have been from the roof, but she saw no one in the alleyway unless they were invisible. Refusing to blink she stared hard into the expanse of emptyness, Ana followed the shafts direction in hopes of finding the archer, pressing herself further into the opposite wall of the rustling movement. Wait... There was a person on the other side! Anas eyes widened in awe for a moment as the man revealed himself only to turn to brief horror at his intentions. Once again she had been caught unaware that terrible things could happen in an alley, the first time was a charm, the second a warning and the third the last chance. What would it take for her to get that into her thick skull? Why did she always have to be caught off gaurd?! Other times it was her who had managed to sneak behind people for their coin, she had always gotten away on pure luck- well, most times. Slowly, as if not to wish any unwarrented actions she pushed herself from the wall she had so tightly pressed herself against in fear of attack. Standing now, for him to see, she seemed to hunch a bit over as if preparing to make a run for it.. But she looked no more than a little street urchin wearing commoner clothing, the dark circles under her eyes screamed lack of sleep, her blonde hair kept loosely tied into a bun around her head and her skin was smudged with much dirt. Anas height was key in her escape for most situations, not only did she appear to be the size of a twelve year old girl but she wasn't particularly busted like a grown woman would, should have been of her current age. The sound of a blade being unsheathed caught her attention immeadetly, her hand reacted on cue, to the hilt of her shortsword. Gripping the handle firmly but not in any movement to draw it out as her feet spread apart ever so lightly for better mobility, the sheath held tightly and at an angle with her other hand, her features hardened at him. His words made her want to laugh, but this was not a funny situation. What were the odds that he used a buckler just as she did? Well, if she had it with her. The piece of defence had been far too troublesome for her to carry around constantly, even harder to perform acts of stealth for someone of her trade. So she had left the little shield in Wrenmaes tent, only to be used in training when she was more competent with it. Sighing annoyedly, she stared at him harder, why was he so honorable? In a cautious voice, she spoke lightly "you defend a total stranger, for silly causes, thats pretty noble y'know.. but whats really astounding is you blended in with the wall..." she remained unmoving, wishing to know how he had done that.. The only reason that had ultimately kept her from running immeadetly. All she had ever been able to do was move with the shadows of buildings, step lightly and keep safe from danger.. Whoever this guy was, must have been pretty petching sharp eyed.. But people were known to see things that hadn't really happened, drugs, alcohal were the main reasons "wheres your proof that I'm a thief? Whats your story?" Too much talk, way too much, she was just trying to stall her chances of total anhilation. Any observant person would have noticed she was shaking in fear, she was scared. Ana was hardly competent in her weapon and had only ever fought with Zandelia during training with it "....its not like it matters, but I'm just curious but what exactly have I 'stolen' please, enlighten me, I swear if you're pulling a front just to rob me like all the other thugs in this rat hole of existance.." Letting the question hang in the air dangerously, this situation was not good. Not good at all! This was not a drill, wasn't even training and here she was about to enter what could be a poor excuse for a duel "just for kicks, whos my 'honorable' attackers name? I would be.. Ana..." She breathed her own out forcedly, she refused to give her full name, but the first name? Well okay then. Ana was intrigued by this man and thus asked for his name as well as gave her own name out first. Albeit partially. She hardly gave the title called a persons name out to anyone, only the Crimson Edge knew her full name, as well as anyone who she believed to be.. Interesting. Outside of this group of few contacts that knew her, she was hardly known by name to anyone in Sunberth for the ammount of time she had actually been living in the city, and that was a pretty long time to most peoples standards. Though they may have come up with nicknames possibly. If this was the case, then her attempts to proove innocence was futile. What were her chances for escape? Ana quickly pulled every detail of her surroundings in, alleys she had passed, buildings, streets, cracks and crevices, landmarks, everything- she was about to make an attempt for a mad dash sprint the opposite direction of this.. This knight! Whatever he was! To a densely populated area where she could get lost in the crowds of people. He almost reminded her of the character in her book that her brother had given her, it was petching scary almost, the only thing that kept from utterly believing he was the 'Thief Prince' in her story book was that he had not used a buckler, at all. Spreading her cloak wide for better mobility, she let her sword be seen in a false attempt to lure him into a chase.. There was no intention of fighting in her demeanor, none at all, if he charged then she would run the other way like a coward- who could blame her? A sword was about to be swung at her indefinitely soon and she was rather mechanical with her movements in the way of a blade, for actions she may or may not have performed, she'd rather her body was living after this. There was no way she could go through a full out duel with someone right now! If he complied to talk with her a bit, Ana would be complacent to wait a bit before running like the thief she was. People who were guilty of what they had been accused of always tried to run on the first encounter. Right? Ana, even though her book had been destroyed in the storm.. She followed its 'lessons' with a passion in her mind. If this 'watcher' caught her right away, she would fight and hope she could escape with a beating whilst still alive.

[Clyde Sullins]

There was no pity in the mans eyes, as he looked at the thief. She was the thing he most hated about this city... The backstabbing... Thievery... Corruption... That an honest man could not make a living, off of his own work... She looked young, but would not let that distract him or temper his fury. He knew in Sunberth, a child could as easily hug you, as they could slit your throat in your sleep... No, her young appearance would not make him totally drop his guard. "The proof you are a thief? Right there, in the purse you took off that man. Do not play the innocent fool, you know exactly what you have done. I saw as you robbed that man." But really, she would ask his name? He was a man trying to stop a thief, in a city of thieves. Anonymity was even more important for him than a thief. "Who am I? I am the hand of justice! The protector of every honest man, who lives and works honestly by the sweat of his brow... Only for some lazy thief to try and steal it from him. Now either hand over what you stole, so I can return it to the man, or I will lay you open and take it by force." If she tried to run away, he would run after, using his sword to cut her off, forcing her to defend herself if she did not want to be slashed. It was a bit hard to run while there was a person at your heals repeatedly slashing at you. "Running is not a choice! Either turn it over, or you lose a arm!" Her attempt seemed if anything to have angered

[Ana Sol Starris]

Proof? The mans proof were his observations, what he had seen, frankly Ana was amazed that someone could have seen her pickpocket someone. His evidence of her crime was within her pocket, but how did one know for sure about that? Someone else could have been blonde, could have been small and thievy looking but no. He had to single her out amongst the bread stand customers, Ana let out what sounded to be an irritated and choked back groan at his speech. The terms he presented her with were grim, non-profitable to the little thief and only granted her life and health, sane and safe with little trouble. Such noble, and prestigious values were quite unheard of in Sunberth, even Anas own morals couldn't compare, not even to the book within her memory. The thiefs moral code? Harm not the victem by shedding blood with violence, but slyly through their pockets, unseen. It was easy enough, it wasn't like she could stomach to kill someone anyways. Thuggery was never her expertise. The blade at her side was simply there till she felt confident in defending herself with it. Current circumstances demanded otherwise though, seething under pressure, fury towards the man who had ratted her out in the alleys. He had done this purposefully, waiting for the right moment, he was the cat; Ana was the mouse, and she was cornered. Responding lightly with a "tch," as she narrowed her eyes at him. Gripping the hilt at her side till her knuckles had turned white. Mystery man hadn't given her a name, though she had given the first name of her psuedo identity to him. This annoyed her greatly, to the point she was about to pester him more for it if only he hadn't assumed an offensive position. Petch him. Petch his veiws, she wasn't going to give him the purse so easily "you talk pretty highly, tell me, what do you hope to accomplish by aprehending one measly thief? Theres thousands of them in this dump.." with a slurred click of her sword and sheath, Ana had taken her shortsword out and held her opposite hand aloft and ready to balance herself if she was thrown off "you want to return something to someone who was dumb enough to allow it to be taken, he doesn't deserve it, who ever the heck you're defending- maybe he's done much more wrong than I have in years, who are you to judge, cretin?" Voice ladled with poison, Ana glared at the threat before her knowing full well that this wouldn't be a fair fight. Not on her end at least, she thought quickly, spots that had hurt excrutiatingly painfully on her body when she was beaten by Shroud, a foot to her side breaking ribs, pommels, movements performed in written word, weak spots? No, Ana wasn't skilled enough to know weak spots on anothers body, not at all, she was at a lost of what to do as the man advanced on her. His buckler held at the ready, she watched it, glancing at the blade and holding her own nervously, ready for an attack to defend with her own rather mechanical moves. Petch him. Ana thought suddenly, she was certain she could out run him any time, any day, and especially right now. With a start, Ana turned and ran; letting the tension in her legs give way into a quick sprint down the alleyway, hoping to make it to the crowded populace of Sunberth for hiding places. To no avail. With a squeekish hiss, she felt the sharp edge of a blade slash across the back of her leg, burning pain sensations flooded the area, shooting up the limb as her body began to fall fowards. To Ana, slow motion took place in her mind as the adrenaline kicked through the thiefs veins, warnings, mechanical instinct urging her to spin her body around in mid air to deflect the next blow as she landed hard on the ground. Ana lifted her blade up and met the next swing at her person suprisedly, feeling the clang of blade connect with blade, reverberate and stun her arm with pricklish tingling sensations. It had almost made her drop her weapon. Anas freehand mean-while held at the hilt firmly with her other shaking hand, pushing upwards, and trying to keep the blade away from further damaging her person. Warm, sticky liquid trickled out of the wound, matting the pants and sticking it to the flesh in slow clotting red glue. With a grunt, a groan, she lashed sharply with her good legs foot at her attackers knee in an attempted response, trying to push herself away and him away so she could scramble up and towards safety, or rather, a more level playing ground. Ana shouldn't have run, she should have faced him head on and now she was at her most vunerable, the ground, why was she always connecting with the ground in some of the harshest ways? Zandelia would not be pleased if she found out about this..

[Clyde Sullins]

As the man looked at her, his entire body was ready for action... He would clearly not let her fool him, or fall for her tricks. "What do I hope to accomplish? To take down a thief. You may be one measly thief that is true... But every quest must start somewhere... I might only take one thief out at a time... But even a mighty oak can be felled, if enough single swings add up over time. You are but one single bit of the tree, that makes up the iniquity that has consumed Sunberth." From what he said, it seemed more than anything she was unlucky. If every quest started somewhere, how unfortunate that Ana had to be that first step. "And that man may have done wrong, but here he is in the right. He worked and earned his money, only for you to try and take it from him, to steal instead of contributing to this city, to bring it out of the dark. Perhaps if nothing else I can serve as a retribution to these people who take what is not theirs, and a voice for those who do an honest work." He almost smiled as she turned and ran, trying to get away... And was after her... Upon her, giving a warning slash, drawing first blood. Enough to convince her that running was not an option. It seemed she was ready to fight, as she brought up her own weapon to defend herself, to block his blow which was inevitable. And block it she did, though only just. It was not easy even with equal skill to fight off a longsword, with a shortsword, one with much less reach than the larger weapon... And Ana did not even have the benefit of anywhere near equal skill. Then the woman tried a dirty trick, kicking at his knee from the ground. However that did not work, and with a bit of fancy footwork, he avoided her kick, making it miss, and then took another step back from her, giving her room to rise, but not so much as so she could get away... Clearly though he had some skill in fighting without a weapon, which Ana might notice was his reason for avoiding the kick. Though even if she figured that out, it would be unlikely unless she was particularly observant, and had seen the style before, for her to realize which skill that was, a fighting skill which did not use the legs directly for fighting, but for avoiding. "Rise, and fight me. I will give you a moment to prepare yourself. I will even go so far as to remove my shield, to make the fight more fair. However you shall not escape my fury. Either turn over what you stole, ALL of what you stole... Or I shall take it from you, and make sure you do not forget the lesson of why not to steal." Having said that, the man did indeed put his shield back away on his back, and held his longsword out at the ready, keeping his eyes on his prey...

[Ana Sol Starris]

What Ana couldn't understand about this mans goals was that Sunberth was a shyke hole for the beaten down, and depriven, it was where those who were not careful- would die. She slowly rose, with a tremble in her step, watering eyes with a clenching jaw. If this... This.. This man was so much about honor, he was so much about courageous justice, a fanatic to the working, innocent man. Well, it was far too much, where had this rogueish knight been for her when she first entered Sunberth? Had she not been innocent once as well? Grasping the hilt of her shortsword with both hands, she had it pointed at him, arms shaking, legs almost like jelly, heart racing, ramming itself against her chest to jump into her throat. What right did he have to go about all of this? She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will herself to calm down, her nerves were stacking carefully higher and higher until finally the last one would cause her to fall down. That was not yet though. The thief put her right foot out, with her left behind her and turned slightly, the blades pommel was held close to her stomach, and directed at the man. Her eyes spoke of anger, hatred, what gave this man the right to judge her so cruelly? It was either survive, or perish like so many others. Stealing was all she knew how to do, truthfully, thieving, and sneaking, observing. "Don't act so high and mighty, if... if... IF you're so high and mighty, then why were you not there for me when I first came to this shyke hole? Was I once not innocent as well? A child? To the mere whims of a harsh city, to only be molded into.. into..." Ana started to stutter out, pride taking reign. Spluttering to a halt, the realization that words would not help her now, nor would they ever would when it came to situations like this. There was no law here in Sunberth, there was no such thing as order, or hope. What would stop him from just out right killing her and leaving her corpse to rot on the streets? Inadvertantly, she had admitted she was a thief, in a round about way- what would stop him? Could she trust to keep his word? Petch. Ana's mind screamed repeatedly, her own fury fueling her movements, why had no one been there for her?! She lifted her weapon up higher, awaiting for him to attack first, caution bade her to act not on fury, for it wasn't the way of the thief to barrel headlong into things, instead she was forcing herself to be patient, but still furious over the mans pompous nature.