Help Me To Help You To Help Me (Ayviss)

[Mirian Jade]

78th of fall, 514 a.v roundabout midnight The city became quieter at night. That may not have been saying much, since the daytime was an almost constant din of shouts and curses and horses and dogs and all sorts of things that never ceased to make noise. But nighttime was when the silence crept and curled over the streets and through the alleyways, bidding the beasts to sleep and the people to remain calm. Even those that were out and about at this hour were quiet in their movements, as the majority of people with a more shady nature tended to like anonymity for whatever tasks it were that the set themselves to. Like Mirian. While most of Sunberth was much more dangerous when night fell, the Sunset Quarter was one of the few places that remained relatively the same. Ragged, poor and filled to the brim with people who could barely afford a day’s food, there was simply no reason for anyone to come there looking for something. And that was why Mirian had left the Sunset Quarter for greener pastures, and that was why she had now miraculously found herself breaking into a house. Well, trying to break into a house. She had never done it before, not successfully. She had picked a grand total of two locks in her lifetime, and those had been poorly crafted and hadn’t gotten her anything more than a bag of apples and a handful of buttons. She had been around the front of the house, but the lock on the front door was too advanced for her, and so she had instead decided to try a window––or rather, what might have once been a window but what was now just a hole in the wall that had been shuttered for the night. Mirian didn’t know what she’d find in the building, or even if there would be anything worth finding; she had come here on a rumor, one that said that the owner of the house had more wealth than he let on. She wanted to see if she could get into the sharing spirit tonight with some of that wealth. Without him noticing, preferably. She also just wanted to see if she could break in. It wasn’t a lockpick that she wielded against the window; the thing wasn’t locked so much as it was forcibly secured from the other side by what she was fairly certain was a plank, although exactly how it was secured and whether or not she could un-secure it remained to be seen. It was her knife that she hefted now, something just thin enough to slip through the shutters and just strong enough to actually do something. She slipped the blade between the two wooden constructs that served to close off the house, setting the tip gently under the plank and slowly moving it. The plank twitched upwards, and Mirian allowed herself a smile; the thing barred the shutters by resting on something, most likely two hooks, but they didn’t extend above the wood and hold it down. She could move it. Up went the knife, up went the plank, higher and higher until she could feel it come free of the hooks that held it down. Then, of course, with nothing to hold it in place, the plank toppled from the tip of her knife and clattered loudly on the floor. Mirian froze, breath catching in her throat and every thunk a searing spike of adrenaline through her skull. The shutters were free, and while she herself didn’t dare touch them now they still began to move, to creak inwards under the weight of their own hinges and open for her against her will. Unable to move forward but unable to pull away, Mirian stood there, motionless, waiting for any sign that someone had heard.

[Ayviss]

She was asleep, at first. There was no dreams, as she hadn't dreamed in a long, long time. In fact, she found it better that way. No need to worry about images that meant nothing, but that would take her attention away for a while before she would simply forget them. Even without dreams, or maybe because it was so, sleep was peaceful, and strangely relaxing. And it would be that way all night long, if not for a loud noise.

Ayviss was used to waking up because of noises by now. Such noises usually came in the form of steps, that indicated that her owner was approaching, and when something much louder could be heard, it was obvious that she would wake up, alert, prepared to fight back if needed. It had taken some time for her to be able to have this kind of reaction on spot, and she still felt headaches from moving too fast too soon after waking up, but she could deal with headaches better than she could with the self loathe she would feel if she hadn't heard anything.

Her hand moved below her pillow, grabbing her dagger, one that she could barely use, but that was still better for defense than no weapon at all. She closed her hand around the handler, holding it firmly. The woman was sitting now, looking around, quickly, trying to find where the noise had come from. In the floor, she saw the plank that was used to secure the window. And said window was opening, slowly.

Ayviss' eyes widened in surprise, and she pressed herself against the corner of her room, as quickly as she could. The room was dark, with no source of light to illuminate it, and shadows covered her, making it hard to see. But it wasn't impossible, and Ayviss hid the dagger behind her, waiting, holding her breath. If she was spotted, she would have to fight with a weapon she had no familiarity with. She had the advantage of being able to scream for help, but that was the last thing she wanted to do. If the person didn't see her, then she would try to sneak behind them and take them by surprise. It was far from a good plan, but now, the window was wide open, and it was too late for her to run to the door.

It wasn't a full moon, and it was hard to see more than a silhouette on the window. It didn't look like a man, but not a child either. Ayviss waited, motionless, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness. For a second, she wished Hollard still didn't trust her enough to not lock her window at night, but the thought was gone just as soon as it had appeared. She had the upper hand, whatever the person saw her or not.

And so, she waited.

OOCI'm so, so sorry for the long wait. I'll probably have a little more time from now on, so replies may come faster. Thanks a lot for the patience.

[Mirian Jade]

Mirian waited. Nothing. Mirian waited some more. Still nothing. Heart pounding, the would-be thief leaned forward slowly, hardly daring to move faster than a snail might have, and peered inside. It was dark beyond the window, as her eyes were adjusted to the light of the moon, but she could make out the vague shapes of objects that were closer and farther, and she could see the moonshadow on the wall to see how big the room was. She took a breath. It didn’t look like anyone had heard her. She could do this. Mirian sheathed her blade and stepped up to the window, leaning her body halfway inside to look around more thoroughly. The general shape of the room was most clear to her, with darker patches indicating furniture. The clearest one seemed to be a bed on the far wall, but with moon-bright eyes she couldn’t be sure. It was those moon-bright eyes that kept her from noticing the person that the bed held. Heartened by her apparent stealthiness, Mirian hoisted herself onto the windowsill. As quietly as she could, the halfbreed carefully pulled over one leg, shifted to face the interior, then brought about her other leg until she could lower herself to the floor. She made more noise than she would have liked, but not as much noise as the clattering plank had; if no one had heard that, then they certainly wouldn’t hear her now. oocSorry I took so long for something so short!

[Ayviss]

The silhouette moved, slowly, as if trying not to make a sound. Whomever they were, they were failing miserably. The old window cracked with every movement the person attempted, and when they finally lowered themselves to the floor, said floor creaked rather loudly. Not as loudly as the noise the plank had made, but still... It wasn't a professional, if the noise they were making was anything to go by, and Ayviss was grateful for that. It meant that she was a little safer. Probably.

Ayviss waited, controlling her breath, anxiously. She was trying her best not to make a noise, hoping that the silhouette would think they were alone, and not listen to closely for any noise. The woman didn't dare to close her eyes, afraid that she would lose a vital movement, and so she kept staring from where she was, trying her best not to breath too loudly.

She grabbed the handle of the dagger behind her more tightly, preparing herself. Ayviss couldn't move, not right then, not if she didn't want to be seen, but the wait was making her more and more anxious each time. She didn't really want to get herself into a fight, but she couldn't just come out of her hiding spot and hope the other person would like to resolve things peacefully too. Careful not to let the moonlight touch the blade, Ayviss adjusted the dagger in her hand, her body tense, preparing to move from her hiding spot as soon as she could. Or as soon as she had to.

Personally, she liked the first option better.

[Mirian Jade]

Mirian took one step, but since this was the ground floor the boards were far less inclined to creak. Another. She looked deeper into the shadows, trying to distance herself from the moonlight to make her eyes adjust.

And adjust they did. Within moments the shades of grey were shifting, becoming sharper and more defined. As long as she didn’t look at the window, she could keep it that way, and so Mirian took care in her gaze as she turned and surveyed the room more carefully and with more accuracy. Again she saw the walls, although they were easier to place now, and there was a door leading deeper into the house, and there was the bed in the corner…

… along with a deeper, darker smudge of black against the lighter color of the sheets.

Mirian froze.

She looked at the figure.

It didn’t move.

She squinted.

It still didn’t move.

Swallowing back a sudden lump of fear, Mirian tried to pick out the exact shape of the dark figure. It was… decidedly human-shaped. It… it had to be. With a head and shoulders and everything.

Mirian swallowed again.

The figure had made no noise, made no move towards her. Was it asleep? Was it just a trick of the light?

And more importantly, was that something Mirian could afford to risk?

The halfbreed took a breath. This… no, she had to do… something. The window was still open; if the figure was indeed human, awake and hostile, she could run. She could get onto the streets and halfway down the block before anyone could follow her.

She had to know.

Gulping, Mirian whispered towards the bed, loud enough for anyone over there to hear her but soft enough to keep from waking them if they happened to be asleep.

“Hello?”

[Ayviss]

Ayviss waited, watching each step of the intruder with interest. She was still, anticipation making it hard for her to wait, but she had to. With each step the figure took, her anticipation grew. When the figure stopped, and seemed to look for something, Ayviss held her breath, nervous. If they spot her, then she could be in trouble. No matter what she had told herself to appease her worry, there was still a stranger in her room, and that in itself wasn't a situation she was comfortable on. So she waited, hoping that the stranger would cease to look for whatever they were looking for, and move on. And then...

The soft whisper surprised Ayviss more than the break in had. The woman had to be joking with her. She was sure that the other couldn't see her clearly enough to figure out who she was, and to speak without having any idea whatsoever was to be incredible careless. If Ayviss was someone else, she could attack now, afraid of being discovered. She was afraid, of course, she still didn't really know the woman, but not as much as she had been before. If the stranger was that careless, then it meant that she wasn't a very experienced burglar, or was very stupid. Ayviss wished it was the first. While stupid people were easy to deal with, she had very little patience for them.

For a moment, the woman remained still, thinking. She could go out now, in a friendly manner, and see what she could get from the other. Or she could remain still, making the other think she was asleep. Or she could attack now.

To attack, it would be stupid. And to pretend she was asleep too. If Hollard found something missing, the blame would certainly fall on her, and it would ruin her plan. And she still didn't know if the other woman was a good fighter. If she was, then it would be reckless to attack.

Although her whole being screamed against it, she secured the dagger on her pants, feeling the cold metal against her skin and hoping it wouldn't cut her. Then she covered it with her shirt, making as few movements as possible, before answering.

"Hello." her voice was as soft as the other's had been. She didn't want to surprise someone she didn't know like that, so when she moved, away from the place she was and closer to the window, so the other couldn't easily escape, she did it slowly, calmly, as she couldn't care less that the other had break into her room. "May I ask why are you breaking into this house in the middle of the night?"

[Matthew]

Ayviss

Experience Points:

• +3 Observation
• +1 Socialization
• +2 Stealth
• +1 Weapon: Dagger

Lores:

• Stealth: Silent Breathing
• Stealth: Using the Shadows to Hide

Additional Notes :

Miriam, if you return, let me know and I can update with a Grade for you. Thanks!

If you have any questions or concerns relevant to your grade, don't be afraid to send me a private message so that we can work it all out! Please remember to mark your Grading Request as Graded.

A shout-out to Ollic Rimesage, who was kind enough to make this template for me.