Young Writers Society

Name: Avian Hunts

Age: 21

Gender: Male

Rank: Elite Tracker

Appearance: He has very striking eyes which aren’t just fun to look at but this means he sees things that could be quite hard to catch at first glance. He stands at about six feet in height and weights pretty light on the toes. He likes to wear a hood because without it, his dark hair and light eyes make him look a bit scary. Plus, he hates scaring children – however fun it ‘may’ be.


Personality: Avian is a weird guy. He doesn’t talk much and rarely does he get the chance to make new friends. Actually, it’s just hard for him to open up which is why he’ll only speak if spoken to and strike a conversation with only very close friends of his. If he’s given wrongful assignments or orders he’ll probably end up accomplishing his task even if he knows it’s not right. That’s just the kind of guy he is, really. If he’s not in the position to argue then he won’t and he’d rather not waste his breath on trivial matters that put him in trouble’s pit. This means he’s quite laid back and is the kind of guy who will just finish what he needs to do and sit down under a tree afterwards and admire the passing clouds.

Strengths: Avian’s greatest strength is his eyes. He’s able to see things that not many people can well, put their eyes on. Also he was once nicknamed, “Hawk eye.” Due to his quick feet and agile vision, he’s evasion skills are great. This also makes him good at shooting long distance weapons like arrows and knives. Close range battles aren't much of a problem and he's pretty good at it but since he's a light, his attacks aren't very strong. But since he's fast, he can do multiple attacks in a short period of time.

Weaknesses: His greatest weakness comes from his eyes as well. Normally, Avian has his guard up all the time but if the enemy is hidden and points to the middle of his back, he won’t see them. Not only this but he can only focus his attention on so many things, if it’s a large battle with vast numbers he’ll probably get confused looking at all the events that go around him. He can’t help himself from his observation skills. It’s a curse (Not really). Since he's light, a single hit can do some damage on him.

History: Avian grew up in wealthy family. He was pressured into learning multiple subjects and this made him bitter. He was always upset and angry but never felt right to speak out. You see, he thought that because his parents were his elders and respected people he shouldn’t say no to them on whatever the case. However, his sister – being the angel in his eyes – encouraged him to run away from home when he was fifteen. She couldn’t see her brother slowly become a slave to the family and go down the same path she had gone down so she devised a plan for him to flee. Avian’s real last name was Wendrill but changed it after his escape.

Up For Love: If you can melt this cold, lonely heart then expose him to a world of righteousness and beauty.

Other: Um, nothing yet. Might add something later though.

Name: Alastair

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Rank: Royalty (King of Sarla)

Appearance: Dark-haired, blue-eyed, and charming, Alastair exudes confidence from his very core. He dresses simply, and always has a dimpled smile ready for his subjects. His swagger betrays his privileged upbringing, and when he sits he doesn't sit in the stiff, upright position most other royals do - his posture is relaxed and languorous, and a smirk is almost always playing on his lips.



Personality: Headstrong, cunning, and confident, Alastair is a new kind of king, the face of the new generation. He had seen good triumph over evil, and is confident it always will. There are stars in the eyes of this idealistic king, and he will not allow anyone to run his kingdom to the ground. He's sympathetic with his subjects, and is a stickler for justice. Nothing will stand in his way, and you're either in or in his way. His charisma swayed his people over to his side once, and his boundless optimism is infectious.

Despite all that, Alastair is very careful and painstaking, always covering up his tracks. He's lied so many times to cover up his past and he can't remember what he told who anymore, so he ends up coming off a bit secretive and furtive. This grants him an allure others are inexplicably drawn to. (Naturally, Alastair is a people person and adores being the center of attention.)

Strengths: Intelligent, idealistic, charismatic, with an extremely loyal core group of bodyguards. Can hold his own in a brawl or sword fight. Hits hard. Very hard.

Weaknesses: His unending optimism will also doom him, as he won't ever leave a fight in the belief that it can still get better. He's also fairly careless when it comes to danger, and doesn't really look out for hidden assassins. He pretends assassins don't exist - it's his way of coping with his biological father's death.

History: There are two sides to Alastair's tale - the one everyone knows, and the truth.

The version everyone knows:

Alastair was born to the king and his wife in their old age - a miraculous birth, to be sure. Some peasants even go as far as to believe the gods themselves blessed the queen with Alastair. He was sickly in his first few years, but he survived it (another miracle), further proving how much the gods loved him. Alastair grew up sheltered and cared for, and went through a fairly rough adolescence. (He's known to have broken a good number of hearts, and it when he was a teen he was rumored to head into a village in disguise to woo the prettiest girl in town.) Then he met Reina, and she managed to tame the wild child known as Prince Alastair. How, nobody knew, but Alastair soon sobered up and became responsible. He's changed slowly throughout their time together, and emerged to be the vibrant king everyone knows today.

The truth:

The queen gave birth to a sickly boy, and the doctors proclaimed that the boy wouldn't live a day past five years old. The king did everything he could, hiring the best doctors from every corner of the world and making sure his son only ate the best food the land had to offer, but it didn't help. Prince Alastair was only fifteen months old when he died.

Micah was only two years old when his father shoved him into a closet and told him not to even breathe if he could help it. A day later, the king walked through puddles of blood and opened a closet with a sleeping little boy in it. A boy who could pass for his son.

The switch was made, and Micah was murdered along with his father. Alastair made a miraculous recovery from his fatal disease, and became visibly healthier with each passing week. Micah-turned-Alastair was more than happy to forget all about his old life, and to humor his new mother the queen.

As an adolescent, he grew bitter with the knowledge that his father was murdered. He resolved to forget his past, and in the process tore through a dozen or so hearts. He himself secretly went into town under the pretense of courting young girls when he was, in actuality, listening around for any rumored criminals before squealing on them to his father's Elite Trackers.

Then he met the mute thief, who couldn't even scream for help when he caught her red-handed. She couldn't talk to defend herself when he ranted and swore in front of her, and only stayed defiant. She eventually escaped him, and frustrated, he returned to the town to catch the thief. Only, he couldn't quite bring himself to drag her off to be executed. He fell fast, and he fell hard.

With the help of a trusted friend, he reinvented Lilith as Reina, and presented her as a noble who'd tamed him. The difficulty they went through trying to hide her from the king taught Alastair plenty about justice, fairness, and responsibility, and Alastair resolved to never have a thief killed without listening to his side of the story. Thus, he orders his men to capture the criminals instead of killing them right away.

Assassins, however, are in a league of their own, as Alastair has never found it in himself to speak for the wretched professionals who murdered his biological father.

Up For Love: Nope. Very much in love with Lilith/Reina.

Other: Velia is his, and he is very eager to listen to her case for himself, and to sentence her with his own hand.

Name: Helena Smith

Age: 22

Gender: Female

Rank: Tracker

Appearance: She has pale skin, but a clear complexion. Her naturally dark hair makes headaches more frequent during hot days. She stands straight and is always alert. Her cooper eyes always waiting... watching.

Personality: Cold, heartless, bi- mean. Some of the words used to describe her. She doesn't appear to have any emotion what so ever. When talking to someone she only replies if you ask her a direct question, if you don't she'll just stare at you blankly until you either shut up or feel awkward. When in battle she is direct and quick, her defense is her weakest skill.

Strengths: Fighting, focus, tracking.

Weaknesses: Defense, socializing, thorough plan making.

History: As a child Helena was labeled as cold and heartless. She would get her work done and ignore socializing. She buried her feelings deep in her mind and now believes she has no emotions.

Up For Love: Of course!

Other:

Name: Quinn Cyrilla (Cyi)

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Rank: Soldier

Appearance:

Very few people get a chance to glance at her very well, not nearly enough to get a good look and actually see anything characteristic: Cyi is albino.

No matter the weather, she always wears long sleeves and has something hiding her head that somehow rarely obstructs her vision. Her eyes are the product of a spell and are a strange red, due to her condition, with a tinge of purple due to the spell.

Her white-blonde hair goes past her shoulders, though she often lets it hang in front of her face when she wants to blend, often pretending to be an old woman.

She isn’t particularly tall, 5’ 5”, and is slender at first glance. If you ever see her without her layers of clothing you’d find very obvious muscles from training. When she is in any formal situation, as in being summoned by royalty, her hair is in some sort of up-do.

Personality:

She neither trusts nor loves easily. It takes a lot for her to even like something. Very few ever see her smile and even less get a taste of what it feels like to feel the fierceness of how protective she can be. Even so, Quinn never loses control of her emotions. Ever.

She sees it as a weakness and shields herself like no others have. She follows orders completely. If it were just these traits that controlled her, she would be a monster, but her slightly naive mother gave her the gift of mercy. Cyi would never kill a person without good reason and always tries to get them a fair trial.

She has great commanding traits but her lack of affection takes away any chance of her being a good leader.

Strengths:

Archery, hand-to-hand combat, handy with a knife in close range situations (she never got the knack of throwing them, much to her frustration), stealth, tactics, being completely rational, her surprising strength (still not as strong as the guys, though), she can be fast when needed, using her forced endurance.

Weaknesses:

She’s always completely rational, seeing nothing from the point of view of a normal person, though her eyes are healed, her brain remembers her bad vision and she often loses her eyesight to blobs of blurry things for random periods of time, complete lack of leadership skills, basically seeming to be an emotionless puppet, her skin burns easily due to her albinism, she trusts very few,

History:

Born to a father who was a soldier and a mother who was incredibly naive, she didn’t have much choice in the matter. Her father loved her but didn’t know how to show it. He did it the same way his father had, to teach her. The very problem with this is that he didn’t know how to really combine teaching her to defend herself and giving her a father.

Brought up solely to be a soldier, Quinn didn’t gather much of a playful side. Her first lessons after walking were not how to play tag but to fight and how to use tactics. Others avoided her because of her differences, being an albino,

When she turned 15, she was already a master at hand to hand combat, taking down many older than her. Her fighting style relied mainly on her excellent hearing as her vision was extremely impaired. It was at this time that a search her father had conducted for the majority of her life paid off. A magic user came and somehow fixed her eyesight, though the effects gave her eyes their unusual color.

From this stage, she learned how to use a weapon she’d admired for years: the bow. As a girl, she wasn’t born with the natural strength that was needed to pull the heavy pull-weights of the weapon. Using her other weapons trainings, the staff and the sword, she forced muscle to grow.

With an extraordinary amount of practice, Cyi became a more than adept archer and soon gained the respect of her fellow soldiers. With this respect came the solitude. Then came Madison and Evander. Good friends, they completely ignored everyone else and always sought to annoy Quinn.

After time, she grew a grudging affection for them and admired their skill in their select areas. She grew accustomed to finding an older soldier, very nearly retired, and he taught her how to move about in the trees unseen and be unnoticed, a trait she’d been unable to have due to her albinism. He grew fond of her and told her to call him Uncle, which she never did except in her head.

Quinn is known as one of the best of the elite and will only listen to those she respects (very few) and her king.

Up For Love: Yes, if you can get her to show emotion

Other: You touch her horse, you might as well start running

~X~

Name: Evander Renaud

Age: 19

Gender: Male

Rank: Soldiers

Appearance:


He’s 6’, and has an average amount of muscles. His brown eyes are always shining, and you rarely see him without some sort of smile on his face.

Personality:

He is one of the best people to be around in a time of need No matter who you are, he’ll protect you if you’re in trouble. Though he’ll follow his king, he will never encourage taking the life of an innocent person and doesn’t judge--ever. Evan is also a fun person to be around, joking when the need arises and is never afraid to try an be a sensitive person.

When something has gone wrong, it becomes obvious that he has no patience.
Strengths:

He can sense the next move of his opponent, like an extraordinary chess player. He trusts his other soldiers/trackers completely. Evan always thinks of others first, he isn’t afraid to do something. Using his

Weaknesses: He isn’t particularly strong or fast. If someone can out ‘chess’ him, he’s screwed. Due to his lack of patience, he’s very prone to do rash things and put others in danger. An old injury to his right arm messes with him sometimes

History:

He grew up next to his best friend, Madison, and she became like a little sister to him. Evan protected her from anybody that tried to take advantage of her. To do that, he became an expert at hand-to-hand combat, under the instruction of his too-serious older brother.

He became a master at staff fighting as he leaning in towards becoming a soldier. Maddy noticed Quinn and insisted they speak to her. Evan was all game and they started to follow her around. She threatened Maddy once, after she’d said something particularly annoying.

Evan promptly attacked Quinn and she barely managed to defend herself as he used his skill. Both managed to deal blows, and only stopped when Maddy unleashed a huge blast of water between them.

In that moment, they’d gained Quinn’s respect and after a few months, a forced friendship.

Up For Love: Yes

Other:

~X~

Name: Madison Fiera

Age: 18

Gender: female

Appearance:



Rank: Tracker

Personality:

She’s incredibly naive, which gets her into a lot of hairy situations. She never shrinks from giving someone a second chance, moving quickly on to the tenth if she believes they can do it (she always does). Madison never shirks from helping people, even if they don’t need help.

Skills:

She’s a skilled elemental magician. Maddy’s best at using water, but loves using air as well. When she decides to use her full force of magic, look out.

Weaknesses:

She can’t use any sort of weapon or known any sort of fighting whatsoever. For this, she relies completely on Evan and Quinn. She gets lost easily and falls in with the wrong people because she trusts so easily.

History:

She was considered a freak where she grew up, using magic instead of anything else. When Evan came around, all of the teasing seemed to stop, so she latched onto him. As he trained in fighting, she trained in magic.

When she found Quinn, Maddy wanted to help her right away, seeing how lonely she was.

Up for love: Yes

Other:

Queen Reina

I was leaning against the railing of my elaborately carved balcony that overlooked the bustling kingdom of Sarla and, beyond, the lush green fields dotted with farms. The sun was just rising, adding a golden glow to the luscious landscape. It was one of the most beautiful sights I'd ever laid my eyes upon.

Though outside of the castle's walls everything was already on its way, I knew inside the castle everyone but certain servants were asleep. Alastair would most definitely be sleeping and even all my ladies were still curled under their warm sheets. I always rose early in the day to catch a bit of private time, away from the critical eyes of the lords ladies of the court, away from my royal life.

I moved away from my spot on the balcony and re-entered my sunlit chambers. I slipped off my plain, unembroidered nightgown and into a flowing blue velvet gown. I clumsily put my wild hair up into its usual large bun, tied a simple ribbon 'round my neck and then quietly left my rooms.

The halls were empty and cool against my barefeet. I padded down softly, observing everything. I was always in such a rush down these halls usually that I never payed close attention to the minute details throughout the castle. The ceilings were lavishly painted in bright reds and blue and golds. Along the walls were large portraits of important people of the past and artistic paintings of lovely forests. I loved my short time with myself when I could think of everything I wasn't when in noble company.

I passed by the doors that led to my husband's, the good King Alastair, chambers. I passed by the many doorways to his blood relatives' rooms. I went around the great dining hall where we, as royalty, were sometimes expected to eat publicly and found it empty of even servants.

I soon reached the opposite of the castle where nobody went anymore since years past. The paintings were covered in silky cobwebs, but were nonetheless still dazzling in artistic skill. There was a still-plump red couch off to the side and I went and sat in it. I sat here almost every morning. I could stay for hours here without being found. Of course, Alastair knew I came here in the mornings but he'd promised not to betray the spot where I could sit in silence. I'd requested it.

I was abruptly roused from my reverie when I heard a sharp creak in behind a painting. I gazed at the masterpiece where the sound had come from and was shocked to see a small hole, but big enough for me to enter, had opened underneath it. Curious, I ventured forward and examined it. It looked harmless.

Taking a glance to the side to make sure nobody had heard the hole open, I stepped inside the black hole.

“Quinn, darling, when are you going to be finished?” Thud.

“Since when have you said darling, Evan?” Thud.

“Since I was trying to distract her so we can do something fun. Thud, thud.

“You should know by now that doesn’t actually work.” Thud.

“Oh, go splash yourself with water.” Thud thud thud thud.

“Ooh, nice sequence.” THUD.

“Evan please go get that arrow out of the target, I think I got it in too deep.” Quinn lowered her bow and gave her friend a piercing glance. He froze for a moment, then grinned, jumping up. Being a boy, Evandor was naturally stronger than Quinn, but her own training gave her strength that was just that below his. He knew she’d been annoyed and also knew she wasn’t above putting an arrow through his ear if he went too far. If he didn’t have his own perceptiveness, he would already be down one ear.

“Of course, my dear damsel.”

“Evan, don’t push her.” Madison sat cross legged, watching the two soldiers with a stream of water threading through her fingers. She had a lazy smile on her face as she waited for something to happen, whether violent or not. Though she’d never tell the tracker, she admired the ease with which she used her magic. Maddy got bored easily so she ended up ‘playing’ with whatever liquid was in the area.

“You don’t actually need to practice, Quinn. All of these his center.”

“Not the first and third--they’re a bit off.”

“Three inches. I think you’d be fine if that were a person.”

“Not if the one weakness in armor is a half a square inch?”

Evan sighed and tried yanking out the arrow, his eyebrows furrowed. It took another try before it finally came free. Quinn was already pulling out the others, looking at the target, then the shaft, closely before putting the arrow back.

“Either way, you’re marvelous, Quinn.” Maddy said, smiling.

Quinn said nothing, brushing a piece of white hair from her face. She felt a small bit of sweat stick to her back and she registered that the sun was finally coming up. With a smooth motion, she pulled up her hood before the sun took it’s toll on her head, ignoring her hair.

“And why did we decide to practice now?”

“No one’s here to get in my way. You didn’t have to come.”

“Of COURSE we did. You’d piss someone off if we didn’t come. Or shoot them.”

“That would be a waste of an arrow to shoot someone because I was angry.”

“You’d do it to me.”

“It’s only an ear, Evandor. It won’t damage anything.” If it had been anyone else besides Quinn, it would have been a joke, but she was completely serious.

“Except his ear,” Maddy said, chuckling. Evan rolled his eyes.

“We should get some rest, then go out and follow the king’s orders.”

“So we woke up then we have to fall asleep?”

“I woke up to practice, then get more rest so I can be on my toes.”

Evan groaned, then slumped against the bench Maddy was sitting on. She laughed at him, letting the water splash against his face. He spluttered, then glared at her. He was about to do something big-brotherly but Quinn started walking away.

“What happened to sleeping again?”

“After Madison’s display, you won’t be able to. Let’s go find some criminals.”

“Yes! Something to do!” Evan jumped up, checked his staff, then ran after Quinn. Maddy followed both of them, checking that the air was humid with a twist of her finger. Near the walls, where most criminals probably weren’t, Quinn turned to Maddy.

“Are you willing to be bait?”

“Quinn!” Evan whirled on her, eyes blazing.

“Nothing will happen to her. She’s just less intimidating than either of us. A girl lost, trying to find her way home. We’ll stay far away, you more than I because you look the part of the soldier.”

“No.”

“Evan, I can do it.” Madison look eager to stop a fight.

“No. Quinn has to learn she can’t use people, even the ones that would do it for her in a heartbeat.”

Quinn said nothing, and neither of her friends could decipher her stone-like face. Seeing Evan’s protectiveness blocking any chance of her plan to work, she resigned the argument.

“Alright. Madison, please start tracking, if it isn’t too much trouble. I’ll stay far enough away not to alert anyone. If there’s trouble, expect shooting.” Evan waved her off, keeping tabs on Maddy as she started trying to find some kind of trail. Friends are irritating.

Velia stepped lightly, adjusting her veils as she walked. The cloth blocked out the musty scent of damp earth, but it didn't block that slight pain in her chest. One that came of knowing she was going to take a wrong step somewhere-- one that would prove fatal.

Then again, she had this feeling all the time. Pressure, she was constantly telling herself. Or maybe... she pushed the thought away before it could be completed. She was to lead without fear, without worrying about petty problems and the numbing feeling that there was a new threat rising. Only, this wasn't one that she could defeat.

It's too early for such thoughts, she told herself sternly. Let's attend the first meeting before we start worrying about unconquerable enemies.

Finally, she came to where the tunnel widened into an underground room, not small, but not huge, either. There were a few wooden support beams throughout the room, though it was doubtful they would do any good. They looked as ancient as the tunnel itself, and twice as rotten. In the middle of the room were a few stools sitting around a circular table-- more ancient pieces, though more sturdy than the thin beams.

Velia let out a quiet sigh and stared at the second tunnel on the other end of the room, the one that the others should be coming through momentarily. She pulled an old map of the city out of a massively over-sized pocket in her robe and walked towards the table, unrolling it and taking her seat.

Worry pushed aside, Velia waited.

Keiko

I hissed as an uncut ruby scraped my palm. I thought there was a law requiring all jewels in professional stores to be polished, or something. Guess not. In any case, uncuts didn't get as much money, so I was glad that there was only a few in this bunch. Last heist, I thought I'd be smart and steal what was already stolen, but whoever I stole from thought the whole geode deal was better. Well, buyers don't think that, which is why last night, I'd broken into Marcelle's Fine Stones.

Now I was sorting through my sack of rocks (the best thieves, I found, didn't take their work seriously, because that lead to stress) and deciding which to sell. Diamonds, cut or not, always sold well. Sell. Geodes didn't fetch good prices. Scrap. Rings were in high demand- people wanting to marry before criminals got their girls and all. Sell. Scrap. Sell. Scrap.

I came to a tangle of strings of gems- one of snowflake-big diamonds, another of teardrop shaped and sized sapphires. Hey, strings didn't serve much purpose unless you were me... keep. But the onyx and emerald ones could go. Something about my hair clashed with emeralds, and onyxes tended to look flat. I wanted dimension, sparkle, light throwing and dancing.

I wound the strings of gems around my ankle, then pulled my boots on. I pinched the top of the plain brown sack, the fat rocks inside clacking. I winced and wrapped the free material around the weight, muffling the telltale sounds of stolen stones. I glanced over my shoulder at the empty window -how long had it been since it was a window, not a crack in a warehouse wall?- and then jammed the door open. I slammed it behind me, the smell of coins already tickling my nose. Survival- it had a funny way of bringing out the worst of me. That was what gave me the bad rep, I guess.

I was too busy calculating the worth of my goods to notice the stumbling body coming my way. Explains why I went tumbling, rolling backwards. My hands tightened on my bag, eyes flitting about for anything blunt and heavy.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to,"

Oh my god. I knew that voice, deeper as it was.

Hunter

The girl that was tensed at my feet had something about her that nagged at me. Something I'd seen before.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to," I stammered, kneeling and offering a hand. "Can I help you?"

Her eyes wouldn't stop moving. Did they ever? Even as she answered, they were trembling, pointed towards a vase.

"No, thank you, I have to be somewhere." She stood, clenching the bag in her hand. It was a bag, right? It looked like it was made of an old dress or something. She stood, speeding down the stairs.

"Where?" I asked, falling in step with her. "I know this city, if you need me to bring you there."

Her eyes flickered towards me. They were green- shockingly familiar green. I swear I'd seen her. "No, I know the place. Been there a lot recently."

"Where? Come on, tell me."

Her voice changed from almost teasingly shy to sharp and firm. "No."

Hard to get, huh? I swerved in front of her as she reached the door. "At least let me go with you. Bad people on the streets."

She finally looked me dead in the eye- her pupils contracted, reducing to almost pinpricks. That face shape, the smooth voice with a hushed accent- she was startlingly like Keiko, I thought. And I swear there was a scar on her neck- I'd seen it when she fell.

"What if I'm one of the bad people, then?"

I opened my mouth to speak about something else entirely, then pulled her to the side, under the shadow of an elevated table. I pushed her bangs flat back against her head and tilted my head, squinting until her face looked small. She was bringing one hand around to strike, I could feel the air whoosing out of the way, but I had to know-

"Keiko?"

Her hand dropped. "Hunt? Hunter?"

I nodded, first slow, and then quicker. "Last time I saw you, you were... blonde."

Keiko grimaced. "Don't say it. Um... I'm on my way to a deal. Come with?"

I broke into a grin and held the door open in front of her.

"Definitely."

Niewén [Tracker] - Back Alleys:

Leaning against the wall near the entrance to one of the more...questionable Thief Dens wasn't much fun. I was deep undercover and hand been so for the last few days. I could see Cassian down the street, arguing with some guy about stolen items--probably bread or something. I sighed, tilting my head back against the wall. The trail I'd been following led here. And then it went cold. Great. Wonderful dead end, wasn't it?

I looked away from Cassian and watched someone enter the Den. They looked me over and then swiftly disappeared inside. I looked towards Cassian and shook my head. Not someone we were looking for. He nodded to me and handed the complaining man a handful of coin before heading my way. I glared at him and pushed away from the wall. What the hell did he want? He was going to reveal my identity!

But no. He didn't walk away. He came right up to me and started talking. I could kick him! I really could. "Niewén," he murmured. "Seen anyone of interest?" I shook my head, stepping back and putting some distance between us. I was posing as a criminal; I didn't need people wondering why I was willing to let an Elite get too close.

"Nope. Sorry, Soldier," I said, shaking my head. Cassian walked off again, laughing. Now that was irritating.


Cassian [Soldier] - Back Alleys:

God, she was being impossible! She was undercover. I knew that. I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I walked away. This wasn't good. Shaking my head, I headed back round towards the palace. Well, fine. The stuck-up tracker could stay there for now. And why had I laughed? Oh, right... The letter. God, it was in every thought. I had to focus--my mother's apparent affair could wait. I could look into that later.

Hand on the hilt of my sword but my mind far away from the busy market I was now walking through, I didn't realize I'd taken a wrong turn until I bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry," I muttered, backing up a step only to realize that this was one of the criminals I was looking for. "Hey!" I shouted, just as they took off running. Stupid idiot. Shouldn't run. Muttering curses under my breathe, I took off after them.


((That could be anyone))

Felix Chahta - Criminal

Oh, I loathed potatos. I stared at the vegetable in front of me, wishing that it would turn into a glorious slab of steak. It didn't work. The potato remained lumpy and bland. The only thing I'd eaten for the past week or so had been potatos. I swore, the more I ate, the more disgusting they became. I picked the potato up and glanced at the wall. Soon enough, the potato was splattered on the brick wall opposite me. Now that was better. It looked far more edible like that than when it did whole, and that was certainly a good thing.

I heard a few footsteps which caused me to turn my head to the opening of the alleyway I was sat in. There was a woman in the opening with her dark eyes narrowed at me. She glanced at the potato. Soon enough, she had pulled a disgusted face - one that made her look far from attractive. She muttered something under her breath as she continued walking. Just as I was about to stand up and follow her for my own personal entertainment, a thought hit me. I was supposed to be on my way to a meeting. Soon enough, I was out of the alleyway, but I wasn't following the woman. Instead, I headed into the crowded market area.

Perfect. I grinned as I started strolling into the crowds. It was a huge relief to see that the streets were crowded. I would be able to make my way through the place unnoticed. I nudged a wealthy man, causing him to glare at me. I grinned at him sarcastically. Filthy money, I thought. If riches could be bought with potatos, I would be the wealthiest man alive. I removed the thoughts of potatos out of my mind. Perhaps there would be food at the mee-

"Ouch!" I hissed as I turned to the person who'd just bumped into me.

The was a man standing in front of me with dark featrues. He stared at me for a brief moment as I looked at him carefully myself. He was a good few inches taller than me and he was wearing armor. Oh, shit. Before the man had an oppertunity to react, I pushed past him and bolted down the streets.

"Hey!" I heard him yell after me.

I pushed people out of my way and I ended up pushing one woman to the ground, but I didn't bother stopping to apologise. The soldier clearly didn't like that because he began shouting even more aggressively. At this rate, he would have ended up developing some kind of throat disease. Every step I ran had its own personal curse word, and the more steps I took, the worse the curses became.

Attempting to confuse the soldier, I made a sharp turn into an alleyway. I couldn't let him follow me to the meeting. Making sure he wasn't behind me, I hid behind a crumbling wall. My breath was heavy as I felt the crisp air on my bare skin. I stopped myself from breathing in hope of going unheard and waited for the soldier to either pass the alleyway, or come into it. It would hopefully be the first possibility.

Niewén [Tracker] - Back Alleys:

I watched the whole scene unfold. Cassian took after the little criminal that bumped into him--and then the little bugger took off! Straight past me, knocking me over. Cassian did not like that. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say it made him angry. I stayed down for a moment and watched the little criminal rush off down the street before getting up slowly.

Cassian rushed past me a moment later, sparing me a glance to make sure I was fine. I scowled at him until he ran faster, trying to catch up to the little criminal. Shaking my head, I started off down the street, rubbing my left arm and frowning when it came away red. Oh, well. What was another scratch to go with the rest?


Cassian [Soldier] - Back Alleys:

Damn, this kid could run fast! I spared Niewén a glance as I rushed past, but she just scowled at me. Shaking my head, I picked up the pace, trying to catch up. Gods, where was this kid headed? Not that it mattered, but please. This kid didn't appear to be all that smart, either. I frowned. Was the kid leading me straight to the others or something?

And then thoughts of the letter my mother had left me snuck back in. I stumbled to a stop, panting. I'd lost the kid. I sighed. Wonderful. I'll bet Niewén will give me hell over that later....when I catch up to her again. Not that it mattered. I liked her, but did she like me? Probably not. I could kick myself. Stupid, Cassian! Start moving and find the kid! He couldn't have gone far.

I straightened up and looked around. People milled about, buying and selling wares. He'd led me back to the main market square? What was with this boy? Groaning in frustration, I turned to head back into the alleys to find Niewén and make sure she was alright. Well, now. Time to move.