《A Boy’s Simple Ambition》Chapter 53
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As he spun during his leap forward he brought his arms up and across one another, forming a X between whomever was behind him and his upper chest, neck, and face. The bottoms of his shoes slid a bit when his body landed and his momentum came to a stop. His gaze was focused and his muscles tense before surprise and confusion rushed over his face and then the rest of his body. No one was there. He suddenly darted to the side a few steps as a form of cautiousness, just in case they were somehow staying in his blind spots. No one was there though and soon he was no longer feeling confused but rather uneasy. Had he simply thought he heard the noise considering the situation? Even after the noise he didn't sense anything, or anyone, so maybe it was just his imagination, or perhaps the wind. Slowly turning on the spot one more time he carefully surveyed the area before taking a deep breath and returning to his brisk walk back to the guild. He wanted to turn in the paperwork before it got too late and he was honestly a little spooked, though he wouldn't admit it to anyone. Glancing over his shoulder one final time he shook his head and took off at a jog into the deepening night.
A pair of narrowed eyes watched in silence as the boy moved about in confusion below. She had been careless, foolish even, and made a sound when she landed behind the nosey boy looking down the alleyway. She hadn't decided what she was going to do before dropping down from her perch inside a broken out second story window above where he had stopped. Under her full body cloak which was closed around her she lifted a slender arm so that she could slip a sharpened nail between her teeth. She had been bored and acted before she could talk herself out of it. Normally she was much more collected but to say Cloudcrest left much to be desired in terms of seedy and nefarious dealings would be a massive understatement thus she saw a potential plaything and leapt at the chance. She waited until he was out of sight before she bit down against the nail hard enough to sheer off an edge near the tip. A few strands of white hair swayed across her face of dark skin and narrow but sharply defined eyes as she continued to gnaw on her nail while thinking. Why did she feel so uneasy? Was it the way he had reacted? Perhaps she was just on edge for letting him get away, a feline agitated when a toy manages to escape.
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A few minutes later a decision was made and the female decided to simply let the matter die there. Looking around carefully once more she flipped open her cloak with a thrust of her arm, revealing a well defined and feminine body covered in a black body suit made from afflicted spider silk with plates of etched leather attached to cover as much of her body as possible without hampering her ability to maneuver. With the front of the cloak billowing for a second more strands of white could be seen in the shadows near her body revealing that her hair fell down her body to about the middle of her back. She lifted one leg to place a knee high leather boot strapped tightly to her toned leg upon the edge of the roof on which she stood. While she didn't do it on purpose her sensual movement, so natural, could have been mistaken for a primal tease toward the darkness itself. Once again confirming no one was around she simply stepped over the edge and quickly fell to the ground below, this time landing without so much as a rush of air upon impact. Her back was to the building she just dropped from and she took one step back toward it while reaching behind her. A dirty golden coin was held between two slender fingers and a second later it disappeared between two bricks, a barely visible slit just large enough to accept the coin the culprit.
Remaining there, facing away, she waited in silence before several small clicks could be heard coming from somewhere on the other side of the wall. Soon a soft sounding of brick sliding across stone reached her ears as a part of brick wall swung in just enough for her step back and through it. On the other side was another figure garbed head to toe in a black cloak with a veil over their face. A gloved hand held out the cold coin, its surface minted with a human skull surrounded by machine gears, and the female took it quickly before turning and making her way down the spiraling stair case that had been revealed in the floor prior to the wall opening. Despite her fast descent upon the stone steps no amount of noise moved ahead of her to announce her arrival, though the slow scrapping of the stone floor closing above her did let those below know someone was coming. Four figures, garbed in the same attire as the one above, flanked a heavy door at the bottom of the staircase, two on either side. Slipping her hand out through flaps of her cloak she displayed the coin once more holding it out between herself and the group. A moment later all four tapped a series of notes against the wall behind them and a few seconds later she heard it unlock from the other side. Stepping through she silently cursed their security, realizing that their caution was one of the reasons she was so on edge and bored. Thankfully, once she was through the second door it was pretty much free sailing, for a lack of a better phrase, for the rest of the hidden area.
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Stepping out of the hallway she came to a stop off to the side near the edge of one of the dozens of 15 foot tall archways that spanned out in front of her, representing the recently christened Cloudcrest branch of the criminal organization known as Nefarious Works. From what she had been told this area had been part of an old sanctum from long before their recorded history. It was found by mistake by some scavengers in old town who realized for many reasons they had fallen upon a priceless treasure.
"You have better make this endeavor worth while my dear. At this rate I'll have a lot of pent up frustrations for you to take care of when I get back."
Her words were barely a whisper, just loud enough to externally tease her ears as she thought about all the things she would do to her master when she returned, and soon her lips curled up in a feral grin revealing larger than normal incisors.
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