Dark City Night (Chase)

[Elizabeth Severn]

Earlier in the day, the city had been awash with rain, and now only a faint mist remained. The whole place had a damp feeling to is, but since it was spring, the rain had brought a fresh sent with it. Elizabeth was particularly quiet as she made her way through the streets, which by now were almost deserted. The soft leather of her boots made the tiniest sounds on the cobbles and the swish from her coattails stirred the air around her.

In the gloom and darkness, Elizabeth felt strangely comfortable. She liked having a job to do, and this one should be particularly interesting. Her and a partner were supposed to hunt down an assassin that had been running loose in the city. The reasoning behind it hadn't been all to clear, but it was pretty safe to say that someone like this should not be running wild in a place where Albion's rulers lived. So, Elizabeth had volunteered for the mission, and here she was now.

When she reached the corner of the street, she stopped and glanced around. A few people still moved through the dark night, but mostly she was alone. Her instructions had been to meet her partner here, and so she would wait for them. Someone from the Guild was being sent to help her, since they didn't know if the assassin used magic or not.

After a moment of two of waiting, someone appeared out of the shadows, and Elizabeth let out a little internal groan. Covering her eyes with one gloved hand, she tried to suppress the urge to punch her new partner. Tonight was going to be interesting.

[Chase Caldera]

Chase walked through the damp city feeling quite at home. He had always loved dark and rainy days. And today had been perfect to mess around in with his magic. He had been made the rainstorm more powerful without losing control like he had the first time he had tried. True he hadn't tried to make nearly as many changes but he could see the results of the ones he had made all around him.

Which brought him to why he was walking through the city streets at such a questionable hour. He had been assigned to help track down a rouge assassin who had been causing havoc in the city. Several sources believed that the assassin was a mage and as such there had to be a guild representative in the search for him.

Chase for once didn't mind the mission. This was the perfect opportunity to forge some ties with the low element of the city. After all there were so many uses to knowing a couple of thieves and pickpockets. Knowing an assassin would be incredibly useful too but Chase knew he would have to catch this one. After Avaris he wouldn't be able to get away with blackmailing another one of his assignments. He would need to complete this one. Hopefully his partner wasn't an idiot.

Chase arrived at the meeting place and saw a girl who looked vaguely familiar. Realization hit him. It was the girl he had argued with in the forest. Well this looked like it could be interesting. He decided to stay silent letting her bring up the forest meeting if she remembered it. Maybe she would vent her anger in a way that would allow him to show her just how much stronger he had become.

[Elizabeth Severn]

It took far more effort to stay calm then Elizabeth had expected. She didn't usually have to exert this much control over her emotions. But see this little upstart of a boy again was setting her teeth on edge. The encounter in the forest was very clear in her memory still, and she hadn't really counted on meeting this boy tonight.

Shaking out her waist length mane of dark hair, Elizabeth lifted her smoldering eyes to meet her partner. "So you're the big...mage who's going to be covering my back tonight, are you?" Her tone had a razor blade like quality to it, and she looked over the young man with a professional eye. "Are you sure you're comfortable doing this? You know, since you're helping a woman hunt down an assassin?"

[Chase Caldera]

Chase walked over to where the girl was standing. He could tell even before she opened her mouth that she remembered their last meeting. He stayed calm through her scathing tirade. After all the very fact that she was so mad about it meant that she herself believed that women might not be as good. After all if she really was so confident that she was just as good as him than she wouldn't care. It was her insecurities that made her care.

"Oh dear me. Its you!" Chase in what could only be described as a refined drawl. "Still so obsessed with trying to prove your none existent superiority over people I see. And yes I suppose you do need my help. So how about we get a move on, kill the guy and get this over with." Chase's tone turned more businesslike "What information do you have" He might not particularly like the girl but at least this hunt would be interesting.

[Elizabeth Severn]

Elizabeth turned her head slightly, looking down the misty street. A moment or two passed as her temper subsided again, leaving her chillingly businesslike. "I know where the house is that this assassin is staying at. It's near the center of the Slums, and it'll be heavily guarded. There's a nobleman he is working for, and it's his hired thugs and personal bodyguard that will give us the most trouble."

As she turned back towards Chase, a small breeze came down the street and stirred her hair, a few strands falling across her eyes and deepening the shadows already there. "We have very strict orders not to be seen. And not to cause a scene. the objective is to get in and out as quickly as possible, clear?"

[Chase Caldera]

Chase listened to the girls explanation of what they needed to do. Sounded easy enough. He would put them to sleep and than simply walk in. No need to tell the girl that though he would let her put together some incredibly complex plan to get them in and laugh at her when it failed. Than a simple spell would allow him to waltz into the building.

However he did wonder at the need for such secrecy. Well Chances were his questions would annoy the girl. He asked them, "Why do we need to keep everything a secret. Its not like they won't figure out we were there."

[Elizabeth Severn]

"This guys isn't working alone," Elizabeth snapped. "Our information says that he has friends outside of the city, and if people find out that he's been killed by members of the royal Army and Guild, they're going to be coming after us. Unless you'd like that on your head, I'd suggest you make it seem like an accident."

Flicking up the back of her collar, Elizabeth took a deep breath, maintaining her calm. "Now listen, I want you to save your energy until we find the assassin. It's not clear how powerful he's going to be, and I'll be honest, I don't know if I'll be able to take his down by myself. I want to know that you're ready for him and won't get killed." Her eyes were deadly stead as she spoke. She had come to realize that she was going to need to cooperate to get this done, and she would much rather go with someone who was on her side then go with someone who hated her guts.

[Chase Caldera]

Chase almost laughed at the girls words. What could the assassins friends do to him? He would crush them. Although it was true that the girl would probably die. While the assassin's friends might not be able to hurt him he supposed that they would be able to kill the girl for her part in the attack. Not that he cared. However making it seem like an accident would be fun. Just how would he do that? Chase bet he could make it appear as if the man had choked on some water.

"Oh don't worry I won't die." Chase "As much pleasure as it would give you to see me die it won't be happening today. Anyway are we ever going to get going?

[Elizabeth Severn]

This was simply unbelievable. This petulant little whelp was pushing her anger so much farther then was healthy. That little hint of a chuckle escaped his throat, and then she was just pissed off. For a minute or so, she just started at him, her eyes smoldering with hatred.

Was it really worth the risk? She trusted this boy even less then she had before, and now she was supposed to trust him with her life on this mission. No way. Why should she? the assassin would still be around in a night or two, and she could come back on her own, or with someone worth her time. this little brat had no idea where the house was,located and she was going to make sure that he didn't know.

Finally, she spoke in a deathly quiet voice. "No," she said slowly, still staring down at him. Her height made her seem even more imposing, along with her anger. It was practically pouring off of her by now.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. I have no need to risk my life for your own self centered pride. You are narcissistic and foolish to have so much bravado. I'm not going to tell you where this man is. You would only screw up."

[Chase Caldera]

Chase really did find this girl amusing. However now she was also getting annoying. Did she really think that she could just walk away and think this was over. There were after all so many flaws in her logic.

He decided to kindly point out all the mistakes she had made in his most sympathetic voice. "I am incredibly sorry but your logic is more flawed than you are. First I was assigned the same mission as you how do you know that I don't know where the assassin is. All I asked was if you had any information I never said that I hadn't already received mine." He was bluffing but he had told enough lies in his life that she wouldn't be able to tell. He continued, "Second you seem to assume that you can simply walk away from this mission. Maybe your instructor was negligent but you are in the army and thus must carry out orders. I could leave since I am a part of the guild but you however are stuck. Third even if you did somehow manage to leave and come back in a couple of nights there would be no guarantee that the assassin would still be there. They don't like to hang around you know." He finished his speech with a slight smirk, "But then I suppose you are just a girl how could you know all this" He had said the last bit merely to irritate her a little more. In reality he didn't think girls were any worse than guys but it appeared to inflame the girl more than any other insult he had.

[Elizabeth Severn]

Before he could even finish speaking, Elizabeth shook her head and turned away, walking down the street, into the mist.

[Chase Caldera]

(Oops sorry I thought I had replied to this already)

Chase watched the girl vanish into the mists. How stupid of her. Well luckily for him she had left first and thus it would be her who would bear the brunt of the anger at their misbehaviour. She really was an idiot. Chase strode towards his house without a single look back.

fin~(I think)