Summer 45, 124
Sjal was hoping to finish her next job tonight, if that was even possible, as she headed down the road. She had taken a portal to get here – some small human town. She was here for a job, something that was supposed to be simple. She came upon a little store in the middle of the town, a short distance away. The store was small, but it served as the hub for the distribution of various goods, including food, clothing.
Sjal arrived at the store and went inside. A strange-looking man welcomed her inside. "Greetings!" He looked up at Sjal as he sang, pausing briefly. "Are you not here to shop?"
She shook her head and took the paper out of her vest to show the man. "Finally!" he exclaimed, "I've been waiting for hours!" He grinned and pointed to a cabinet along the wall, saying, "I've been getting robbed quite often. Just hide until they get here and nab them."
Sjal turned to the man, eyes wide as she stared at the cabinet, asking, "What if he doesn't show?"
With slitted eyes, he said, "Oh he will. He always shows up, and nobody ever manages to catch him!"
Sjal let out a loud sigh and went to the cabinet, where she climbed in and let the clothes fall over her. One of her eyes could see the room outside thanks to a tiny slot in the front of the cabinet. She looked around, peeping out. She was surprised to find that she could see quite clearly and well - she could see the entire store, even a little bit into the back room. Abruptly scurrying around from behind, the merchant moved toward the cabinet.
"Good luck!" The elderly man abruptly closed the door in Sjal's face and turned to leave the store, locking it behind him before Sjal could reply. Sjal kept a close watch on the store, wishing she had a candle so she could see better. A few sporadic footsteps outside the door were the only activity heard during the night.
Sjal saw movement out of the blue. One floorboard was starting to rise slowly at first, then it was being pushed up and eventually aside, clattering on the floor. A slender figure wearing a black set of clothes and carrying a large bag behind him emerged from the hole that had been left behind. The figure slowly pivoted, examining the space for any unusual activity. Sjal peered through the slot and thought, "He must have excellent night vision."
The figure stalked into the back room, filling the enormous pack to the brim, finally appearing satisfied. After finishing the back, the figure started to return to the hole when he saw the cabinet - the final area not touched by his sticky hands. The man moved quickly forward, caught hold of the handle, and pulled it until Sjal was visible beneath the outer garments. With her weapon drawn and ready to strike, she quickly pointed it at the thief's throat and yelled, "make one move, and you're dead!"
"If you shout I'll rip your throat so deeply that the skin on the back of your neck will be the only thing holding your head in place." The figure gave a nod. "Take off the mask," Sjal ordered. Slowly lifting his hand, he tore off the mask to reveal... A GIRL? "Oh, so the infamous thief is a she?"
As the woman spoke, a dejected expression crossed her face. "Just food and clothing are what I have been stealing." she stated, carefully reaching into the bag. Sjal's weapon blocked the woman's attempt to throw a tiny weapon she had taken out of the bag with a sudden, feline speed. The woman turned and dove for the hole in the floor as her throwing knife spun through the air.
"Damnit!" she shouted as she hopped after the girl. Sjal followed the tunnel that led the way through the underground path that connected the store to a tree not too far away. It didn't look to be magically dug, which was a good thing. If Sjal had been surprised by a mage, she'd probably have been dead.
She tried finding the girl for several hours, probably trailing the thief by only a few hundred yards. It would have been so much faster if she had been able to see better. Her teleportation was useless for tracking someone. Then there was light. There was a small cabin in the distance with a flickering light visible – probably a fireplace. Sjal moved stealthily toward the light's edge and eventually reached a room with boxes arranged around its perimeter. Sjal could see the woman inside talking to a few men as they moved the crates around.
"Can you believe the guard they hired this time? A girl not much younger than me. You ought to have seen her reaction when I threw a knife at her!" She sat on a nearby crate and grinned. "You idiots, stack those crates quickly! For once, I'd like to go to bed at a respectable hour!"
"Well, what gives you the impression that she didn't follow you?" The man who was closest to her said.
"No foolish, incompetent girl like that can keep up with me in speed! Moreover, I might have killed her with that knife. It was hard to see, but I didn't hear her coming." She grabbed a small apple from one of the crates and laughed heartily. "Sincerely, I believe that two-bit shop will close in a few weeks at this rate, at which point we can move in and start our plan! People will swarm to our new store to take advantage of our incredible wares, and they will buy all of our stolen goods!" The woman leaned back and grabbed a short sword that was lying nearby. "Come back here tomorrow for another burglary if you're done."
Sensing that this was her chance, Sjal pulled her own throwing knives out. She put her sword down on the ground in front of her, stepped back a little into the shadows, and let both knifes fly. She had no experience so it wasn't a surprise that she missed the bases of the skulls of the two turned workers that she'd aimed at. But it gave a good distraction. As she turned, she leaped forward with incredible speed, grabbing her sword and leaping out from behind the crates to strike the workers. They fell quickly and she turned to face the mastermind.
The woman dodged her blow with surprising speed, drawing her blade so quickly that Sjal thought it was a blur. She leaped back and pulled out multiple throwing knives, tossing them towards Sjal. Sjal had already blinked on top of one of the crates.
The knives hit a latch on the crates causing it to let its contents spill onto the floor. "I should have known you would be some two-bit mercenary, hired by that worthless old man," she muttered, growling. Pulling out another weapon, the woman hurled it before turning to run away once more. With her weapon ready, Sjal practically blinked in front of her.
With as much speed as she could muster, she lunged forward, severing the woman's body and rendering her helpless. Leaping backward once more, she glanced at the stumbling woman as she toppled over and hit the ground. She roared, reaching to her side to retrieve the same pouch from which she had previously drawn her projectiles. "I WILL KILL YOU."
Sjal braced herself, mentally preparing an attack, not wanting to take the chance on any more fights with the cunning woman. Sjal blinked forward and hit the woman with practiced precision. She seemed to be either dead or incapable as she rolled over.
Sjal walked up to the motionless woman and cast a sidelong glance. She was still breathing, a small stream of blood dripping from her mouth and slowly seeping from her wounds. Sjal walked past her and up to the two laborers, picking up her throwing knives that were nearby. She turned and walked back, grabbing the woman's arm and tossing her over her shoulder as she left, taking the same route she had come.
The morning twilight was beginning to settle on the small town, finally reaching the streets. Sjal carried the injured woman to the guards, dropped her on the ground. "This is your thief. She had admitted to stealing goods. The store still has some floorboards missing so you'll have no trouble finding the tunnel she dug. She has a cabin out in the woods… along with two dead workers who were plotting with her," Sjal said.
She met back up with the merchant, appearing quite excited, after less than an hour of waiting outside.
"Have you managed to get him?" Sjal nodded and started to speak, but someone interrupted her with questions.
"Talk to the guards about the details. I'm just here to get payment. I'm very" she yawned, "tired."
