Quiruru Quiru arrived first. The plainswoman was dressed in dark, murky colors; the sort that wouldn't stand out either in the water or against the stone that housed the north tower. Her hair was tied up in a high tail, and she wore goggles. Zhi couldn't see her eyes, but thought her to be cheerful, even without the telling smile. Unlike most who haunted the lower city, Quiru was rarely in a bad mood or had anything but a pleasant expression. That might have earned her scorn, except for the fact that, at least among Zhi's kind, she was the best there was at breaking and entering. Truth be told, Zhi wouldn't have been able to afford her had not the woman wanted into the north tower for her own reasons.
They nodded to each other. They were both comfortable in the silence. They didn't have long to wait before their third showed up. Chirp. As loud and crafty a distraction as anyone could be.
"How long d'ya need t'swim t'the base and climb up?" Chirp was looking at Zhi.
It was Quiru who answered. "Ten!"
Zhi shot her a look.
Quiru's return grin was a work of art. "Kitty-cats can keep up, can't they?"
"Fifteen," Zhi said.
"Too tardy a time! Take my trials to heart: your tail will be tweaked if you tarry. Ten!"
Zhi hesitated. Quiru marked the hesitation. She turned to Chirp and held up all ten fingers. "Ten!" She hoisted up her gear and turned back to Zhi. "Now we go."
Then Quiru was scrambling down the rock to the water below. Zhi exchanged a glance with Chirp. "Slow ten," Chirp said, her smile wry.
"Yeah, whatever. Jes as long as yer loud." Zhi stripped off the loose overshirt she wore. The shirt underneath was tighter to her body. "Hold, Quiru, lemme carry some o'yer gear --" Zhi scrambled down after Quiru and caught her right as she was about to hop into the water. "Cold enough t'twist yer nipples, 'tis, an' I'm a better swimmer asides."
"Swimming, sailing -- don't sweat o'er the skills you solicited me for."
"Err, right. . .jes hand me th'rig, at least." Zhi pointed to the waterproof lockbox Quiru carried.
Once they'd haggled over the gear, settled on a compromise, and gotten into the water, they wound up at the base of the tower with only a few minutes to spare. Numbed fingers and feet made the climb more arduous than it should have been -- and as a result, Zhi heard Chirp's shrieks split the air long before Quiru managed to get one of the high windows open, and them inside.
Everything needed for the climb was left behind the thick drapes. The dripping was unfortunate, but nothing about the job was clean, couldn't be with such a harsh timeline.
The papers they needed were locked inside a cabinet alongside other such papers. The occupant of the office had retired for the night, and the night's watch had been drawn by Chirp's shrieking demands -- something to do with a married man and a bastard, if Zhi heard right. Still, dealing with a hysterical woman about personal matters would only require two of the guards at best, no matter how hard she struggled.
Quiru took out one of the guards with a hollow needle filled with a potent soporific. It laid him out -- not enough to paralyze him and kill him, not something that would knock him out cold and do potential damage -- just enough to make him limp and delirious. Zhi gagged him and tied him to a sturdy desk as Quiru read out the papers to her.
"Seems the sod sailed with several names. So it says --" Quiru listed the names in her soothing voice, chuckling over "Ghost" -- "What a long time it's been since I've last heard that name!"
Zhi grunted, finished, and gestured Quiru towards the door. She waited by it, ears focused on the small sounds in the hallway beyond, when Quiru reached the last name.
No.
She froze.
"Nim? We've need to nip out now."
Zhi's ears flickered back, "Oh. . .aye, jes though I heard. . .summat. We're clear."
They slipped out into the hallway, and back to the first office.
Quiru chatted amiably as they geared back up, talking about past jobs and dropping hints about the one that had driven her to help Zhi with the tower. "It'd be folly for favors betwixt friends, but fair for fruitful trade. Wouldn't you say?"
Zhi's lips quirked into a small, warm smile. "Always enjoyed me jobs wi'ye, Quiruru Quiru."
Quiru chuckled and got into the window, regeared back up and ready to scale the climb back down. "Getting soft? Galili would grey to hear you glad-gadding like this!"
Zhi secured the waterproof container that held the papers tight about her so it would not fall off in the water. She gave Quiru one last, bright smile before she climbed down too.
No.
They were nearing the rocky outcropping they'd started from some half a bell prior when Zhi swam up alongside Quiru. The lalafell's swimming stroke stuttered as she turned her head to say something, ask something. She was smiling.
It wasn't personal.
The first blow caught Quiru off guard. Right off the temple. Enough to make her sink a little. Enough for Zhi to wrap an arm around her throat, and her legs around the smaller woman's. Zhi'd gotten several deep breaths before, preparing her lungs.
They sank.
It wasn't personal.
The resistance Quiru's clothing and flesh gave to Zhi's knife was minimal. Quiru wasn't weak, but she was in a bad position to get any leverage on Zhi. She'd panicked when they went under, and air had escaped her in giant bubbles. She'd tried to thrash and kick, but she'd sucked down water. She'd always been a weak swimmer.
Blood in the water. The predators of the deep would arrive, eventually. But Zhi wasn't taking risks. She clumsily looped Quiru's lockbox around the lalafell's body -- blood was forming a cloud, getting in her face, her hair, her eyes -- before she let her former partner go.
It wasn't personal.
Zhi surfaced alone. The swim back to the rocks was hard. She couldn't feel her hands anymore, and her arms and legs barely did what she wanted them to. Her knife was missing. She'd have to get a new one. She stripped off her wet clothes, stuck them under a rock to fetch later. The large shirt she'd left was put on in its stead, hitting her at mid-thigh. It would do until she was able to get new pants.
She was shivering hard when Chirp met her at their second pre-arranged spot.
"Where's Quiruru?"
"Another job she'd t'get to. Ye know how she is."
Chirp laughed. "Eager, she is. Right, right, probably didn't want me t'call 'er a drowned rat."
Zhi smirked, and laughed along. "Oh, aye, an' she looked th'part, too."
She had to protect herself. No one else would do that.
"Finish th'job, then?" Chirp rubbed her hands together.
"Aye. Here's yer cut." Zhi fumbled the gil, and it went spilling onto the ground.
"Drinkin' on the job, are we?"
"Water's ruttin' cold, 'sall." Zhi watched Chirp pick them up. She couldn't keep her fingers closed around the coins.
"Aye, yer shakin' worse'n a doxy on her first spread." Chirp clapped her on the back. "Good run. Feel free t'spend yer coin on me any time, Streetrunner."
They parted ways.
No one else would protect her secrets.
Zhi went to one of her hiding spots, changed and got her hair as dry as she could. Her hands were still ice cold by the time she reached the Mizzenmast, by the time she reached room twenty-three. At least she'd stopped shivering so hard. She blew on her hands to warm them, and picked the locks. She didn't care if he heard her. She wasn't in a mood to knock. The door eventually opened, and Zhavi Streetrunner stepped inside, bold as you please.
The only person she could trust was herself.
They nodded to each other. They were both comfortable in the silence. They didn't have long to wait before their third showed up. Chirp. As loud and crafty a distraction as anyone could be.
"How long d'ya need t'swim t'the base and climb up?" Chirp was looking at Zhi.
It was Quiru who answered. "Ten!"
Zhi shot her a look.
Quiru's return grin was a work of art. "Kitty-cats can keep up, can't they?"
"Fifteen," Zhi said.
"Too tardy a time! Take my trials to heart: your tail will be tweaked if you tarry. Ten!"
Zhi hesitated. Quiru marked the hesitation. She turned to Chirp and held up all ten fingers. "Ten!" She hoisted up her gear and turned back to Zhi. "Now we go."
Then Quiru was scrambling down the rock to the water below. Zhi exchanged a glance with Chirp. "Slow ten," Chirp said, her smile wry.
"Yeah, whatever. Jes as long as yer loud." Zhi stripped off the loose overshirt she wore. The shirt underneath was tighter to her body. "Hold, Quiru, lemme carry some o'yer gear --" Zhi scrambled down after Quiru and caught her right as she was about to hop into the water. "Cold enough t'twist yer nipples, 'tis, an' I'm a better swimmer asides."
"Swimming, sailing -- don't sweat o'er the skills you solicited me for."
"Err, right. . .jes hand me th'rig, at least." Zhi pointed to the waterproof lockbox Quiru carried.
Once they'd haggled over the gear, settled on a compromise, and gotten into the water, they wound up at the base of the tower with only a few minutes to spare. Numbed fingers and feet made the climb more arduous than it should have been -- and as a result, Zhi heard Chirp's shrieks split the air long before Quiru managed to get one of the high windows open, and them inside.
Everything needed for the climb was left behind the thick drapes. The dripping was unfortunate, but nothing about the job was clean, couldn't be with such a harsh timeline.
The papers they needed were locked inside a cabinet alongside other such papers. The occupant of the office had retired for the night, and the night's watch had been drawn by Chirp's shrieking demands -- something to do with a married man and a bastard, if Zhi heard right. Still, dealing with a hysterical woman about personal matters would only require two of the guards at best, no matter how hard she struggled.
Quiru took out one of the guards with a hollow needle filled with a potent soporific. It laid him out -- not enough to paralyze him and kill him, not something that would knock him out cold and do potential damage -- just enough to make him limp and delirious. Zhi gagged him and tied him to a sturdy desk as Quiru read out the papers to her.
"Seems the sod sailed with several names. So it says --" Quiru listed the names in her soothing voice, chuckling over "Ghost" -- "What a long time it's been since I've last heard that name!"
Zhi grunted, finished, and gestured Quiru towards the door. She waited by it, ears focused on the small sounds in the hallway beyond, when Quiru reached the last name.
No.
She froze.
"Nim? We've need to nip out now."
Zhi's ears flickered back, "Oh. . .aye, jes though I heard. . .summat. We're clear."
They slipped out into the hallway, and back to the first office.
Quiru chatted amiably as they geared back up, talking about past jobs and dropping hints about the one that had driven her to help Zhi with the tower. "It'd be folly for favors betwixt friends, but fair for fruitful trade. Wouldn't you say?"
Zhi's lips quirked into a small, warm smile. "Always enjoyed me jobs wi'ye, Quiruru Quiru."
Quiru chuckled and got into the window, regeared back up and ready to scale the climb back down. "Getting soft? Galili would grey to hear you glad-gadding like this!"
Zhi secured the waterproof container that held the papers tight about her so it would not fall off in the water. She gave Quiru one last, bright smile before she climbed down too.
No.
They were nearing the rocky outcropping they'd started from some half a bell prior when Zhi swam up alongside Quiru. The lalafell's swimming stroke stuttered as she turned her head to say something, ask something. She was smiling.
It wasn't personal.
The first blow caught Quiru off guard. Right off the temple. Enough to make her sink a little. Enough for Zhi to wrap an arm around her throat, and her legs around the smaller woman's. Zhi'd gotten several deep breaths before, preparing her lungs.
They sank.
It wasn't personal.
The resistance Quiru's clothing and flesh gave to Zhi's knife was minimal. Quiru wasn't weak, but she was in a bad position to get any leverage on Zhi. She'd panicked when they went under, and air had escaped her in giant bubbles. She'd tried to thrash and kick, but she'd sucked down water. She'd always been a weak swimmer.
Blood in the water. The predators of the deep would arrive, eventually. But Zhi wasn't taking risks. She clumsily looped Quiru's lockbox around the lalafell's body -- blood was forming a cloud, getting in her face, her hair, her eyes -- before she let her former partner go.
It wasn't personal.
Zhi surfaced alone. The swim back to the rocks was hard. She couldn't feel her hands anymore, and her arms and legs barely did what she wanted them to. Her knife was missing. She'd have to get a new one. She stripped off her wet clothes, stuck them under a rock to fetch later. The large shirt she'd left was put on in its stead, hitting her at mid-thigh. It would do until she was able to get new pants.
She was shivering hard when Chirp met her at their second pre-arranged spot.
"Where's Quiruru?"
"Another job she'd t'get to. Ye know how she is."
Chirp laughed. "Eager, she is. Right, right, probably didn't want me t'call 'er a drowned rat."
Zhi smirked, and laughed along. "Oh, aye, an' she looked th'part, too."
She had to protect herself. No one else would do that.
"Finish th'job, then?" Chirp rubbed her hands together.
"Aye. Here's yer cut." Zhi fumbled the gil, and it went spilling onto the ground.
"Drinkin' on the job, are we?"
"Water's ruttin' cold, 'sall." Zhi watched Chirp pick them up. She couldn't keep her fingers closed around the coins.
"Aye, yer shakin' worse'n a doxy on her first spread." Chirp clapped her on the back. "Good run. Feel free t'spend yer coin on me any time, Streetrunner."
They parted ways.
No one else would protect her secrets.
Zhi went to one of her hiding spots, changed and got her hair as dry as she could. Her hands were still ice cold by the time she reached the Mizzenmast, by the time she reached room twenty-three. At least she'd stopped shivering so hard. She blew on her hands to warm them, and picked the locks. She didn't care if he heard her. She wasn't in a mood to knock. The door eventually opened, and Zhavi Streetrunner stepped inside, bold as you please.
The only person she could trust was herself.
