Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-25828117-20191215223703/@comment-5583506-20191217184358

It hadn't taken Kashya long to locate the artisan in question. Celtian's briefing had been vague, but she had worked with less, and she believed that he thoroughly enjoyed to further enhance her skills by testing her and constantly pushing the boundaries. Next time he would perhaps give her nothing but the gender of the target in question. As of now, she had located the artisan's home, but he didn't appear to be in at the moment. Informative beggars always had loose tongues when it came to the toss of gold coin.

Seeing as her target wasn't at home, she instead found her way to the client, another easy target to track down; just in the vicinity of where her mark of assassination lived. She crept in through a window on the backside of his house and took a seat in the dining room, listening to the client's pleasant humming as he prepared his dinner, blissfully unaware that a Dark Brotherhood member was waiting for him in the next room.

When he finally entered, he gave out a startled shout and clutched to his hand to his chest. "S'rendarr's mercy!" he wheezed. "Do you people ever knock?"

Kashya observed the Khajiit under silence. He was a young man, maybe a year or two older than herself. Grey fur and eyes. She seemed to recognize him from somewhere, but couldn't recall. "Never", she said. "Death does not come knocking."

"Well, you shouldn't sneak up on your clients like that. This one pays you to kill other people, not this one."

Kashya blinked, and didn't apologize. "Has this one seen you somewhere before?"

The Khajiit furrowed his brow. "What is that supposed to mean? Does it matter? This one pays you to kill people, no?"

The assassin shrugged. "Just curious. This one feels as if she has met you somewhere."

The man straightened his back. "This one is Ra'zid. He used to live in Senchal for a while."

Kashya didn't show it on her face, but she recalled now. Ra'zid ... He and his girlfriend Tsamba had called her names back in the day when they were cubs. Creepy Kashya they had called her. She also seemed to remember that they had thrown a rock at her once which had hit her right in the forehead. Her father had scolded her for getting herself into trouble with other cubs, of course. It was always her fault.

Bad blood...

"Guess this one was mistaken then", Kashya lied.

"Clearly", Ra'zid said, not recognizing her. "Now, as to Ra'zid's request..."

"This one will carry it out, don't you worry", Kashya ensured him before he had a chance to finish. "The Dark Brotherhood has a reputation to care for."

Ra'zid snorted. "As you can tell, business isn't exactly blooming for this one. It used to when this one decided to come here, but then of course he ..." He motioned with his hand in the direction of the target's house, and sank down on his chair with a sigh of despair. "He had to come here as well. He was always the best at what he did, even back in Senchal. There was not a moment when this one was not in his shadow, but then Ra'zid moved here, and thought he could make a name for himself."

He scoffed. "This one was wrong. Have one of you ever felt like that?"

Kashya blinked.

"Like ..." Ra'zid licked his lips. "... like you are being crushed. The entire world just weighs you down, and you can't just help but to feel as if you have done something wrong to anger it. Or worse, you feel as if your very existence is an affront to the world, and that you are being punished for it. Punished for being alive."

Kashya couldn't help but to swallow, but did her best to conceal it by subtly shifting in the chair. "Sometimes", she said vaguely.

Ra'zid just nodded. "Well", he said. "That's what it feels like now. This one finally got away from him. One of the few friends Ra'zid had growing up ... and his worst enemy. Once he was free from under that whole weight things were finally looking up for this one. But no. He had to come here as well. Settle his business here, and suddenly this one is back where he started. Now all Ra'zid's customers are going to him." The young man pointed angrily out the window.

Kashya did not feel any sympathy for Ra'zid. As a child, he and his friends had made her life a hell on the streets. She couldn't stand being at home, being ignored by a contemptful father, and she couldn't be outside to play with other cubs as they all followed Ra'zid's whims.

She knew well enough what it felt like to be scorned by the world, and it was no thanks to him. She still despised him, but as of now, he was a client, and so she had to fulfill his request. She did not have to like it.

Kashya rose up from the chair and looked out from the window, and across the plazas. On the far side she could tell that lights had been lit in the windows. The target was at home.

"How do you want this one to proceed?" she asked.

"Pardon?"

"Do you want him to suffer? Do you want it to look like an accident? A suicide? Or just want him to be killed in whatever way possible and be done with it?"

"Oh ..." He said. "This one did not realize there were options for this one. This one supposes that ..." He scratched his temple. "He ... is an old friend of this one. A childhood friend. And Ra'zid would like him gone ... without any pain, if possible?"

Kashya gave him a short nod in understanding. "When?"

"Whenever you can? Tonight? Tomorrow?"

"This one will see what she can do", she informed him, before leaving through the window without a single sound to her step or movement.

She crept up to a nearby building just outside the artisan's home and workshop where she scaled the wall, climbing it covered by the shadows. Only the pale light of Masser and Secunda would reveal the shape of the Khajiit assassin coming for her target. She ascended a decorative spire and positioned herself on its top where she had a good view into the lit windows of the target.

And then he appeared. He was taller now, and more muscular from the hard work as a carpenter and craftsman, but his traits were distinguishable enough even from this distance to determine who he was. His scruffy fur from the days of their childhood had been replaced with a well-groomed coating of bright grey. A pair of ice green, friendly, clear eyes, adorned by an elegant mane of black.

She felt as if she was going to loose her balance and collapse. In her heart she had known ... She supposed that she had always known from the moment Celtian had told her. Her mind had just refused to accept it, locked the truth away to keep her from hurting. But hurting she was. Seeing Kiro fully grown into a handsome male Khajiit, and knowing that he was her target, broke her heart.

She choked up, tried to catch her breath as her eyes began to water. She shook her head in defiance. Anything but this. She pinched the root of her muzzle, wiping her eyes, hands trembling with restrained sorrow and frustration. Why was he here? After all these years ...

This couldn't be, she told herself over and over. Not Kiro. It had to be a mistake, but the truth was laid bare for her to witness, and it was both ugly and hurtful.

She gazed up towards the skies, feeling an ounce of compassion to how Ra'zid had explained how he felt.

Divines, she pleaded.'' S'rendarr, Khenarthi, Sangiin, Sithis, anyone ... If only so much as one of you are listening, Kashya wants you to know that she hates every last one of you ...''