skysteal | [ open rp post ]

[ Blaze is still a rogue at heart, no matter how many new tricks she’d picked up from her far eastern friends. Though her travels and training had kept her away from Limsa Lominsa for a number of years, she’d been pleased to find that not much had changed. There were a few new faces hanging around the Dutiful Sisters, but the ones that mattered were much the same, and it made her heart warm to be welcomed back with open arms.

Her stay in the city is meant to be a temporary one, but that doesn’t mean she can’t help her fellow rogues out with a job here and there. A shinobi must have a purpose, she’d been told, and she can think of none better than the purpose with which she began her journey.

There are still a fair few individuals out there willing to spit in the face of the Admiral’s ban on piracy, and one such ship had pilfered a set of far eastern treasures from a ship belonging to the East Aldenard Trading company of all things, bound to port from Kugane. Jacke figured Blaze’s newfound knowledge of the east might prove helpful, and so set her on the trail of the fellow who is supposed to meet with the black marketeer meant to sell the stolen items.

Even after years away, she knows the city like the back of her hand, trailing the pirate at a distance through the crowded market and down, down, away from the docks and into a dark and little traversed alley. Easy as anything, she thinks, but it quickly occurs to her that she’s not the only one on the man’s heels. She could kick herself for not noticing them in the crowd, but once they’ve broken away it’s easy enough to tell. Who else would come down this way?

Jacke would have told her if she was expecting back-up, right? So, either this man has a friend she’s not aware of, or she’s not the only one after the treasures. Ducking quickly into the ally’s deep shadows to conceal herself, she waits for this mystery person to approach. ]

[ It's not typical for Peony to pick up jobs on her own, especially on Vylbrand of all places, which even after a few months, is still unfamiliar to her. Every day she gets a little more used to it, but rather than return to her roots in thievery, she's kept her record clean here so far. Spotless, really! Side gigs sure don't pay as well, but every now and again one crops up that's a bit more lucrative, and this one is one such case.

For all she knows, her clients motivations might not be pure themselves, but stealing from someone who's already stolen isn't really stealing, is it? Perhaps they'll turn the goods back over to the proper authorities once they've had a look at them. Being from the East Aldenard Trading Company, there's bound to be some valuable wares in there. If they turn out to be not-so-altruistically motivated, well...

She'll worry about that later, once she's got the goods. Though she has far more experience playing the role of a grifter, she could hardly spend her adolescence within a family of thieves without picking up some sneaking skills, though quickly enough, she realizes she is...following someone who is following her target. Not one of the Yellow Jackets, or a regular civilian who just happens to be going the same way. Her movements herald someone who does not want to be followed, yet if she were with the black marketeer himself, why would she follow at such a distance?

But in the blink of an eye, the Roegadyn vanishes, and Peony curses under her breath — but it is what it is. She hasn't lost sight of the black marketeer, which is what matters most, so she continues her approach, ears pricking beneath her hood at every sound around her.

Just a little further to the docks...but just in case, she stows one hand inside her overcoat, resting her hand on the hilt of a dagger sheathed at her side. ]

[ Jacke always used to joke that they needed to put a bell around Blaze’s neck - no one of her size should be able to move that quietly, but she did, and it often worked to her advantage. The smaller figure - much smaller, she notes - nearly creeps past her entirely, and would have likely continued on none the wiser if Blaze didn’t snap her arm out to hook it around the hooded person’s shoulders.

It’s her aim to draw this mystery person to her, pressing their back to her front while her free hand brings her blade up to their throat. She won’t hurt them, merely threaten a little until she can discern what it is that they want.

Whether or not the element of surprise is truly on her side remains to be seen. Smaller targets are tricky like that. ]

[ When it comes to fight-or-flight responses, it's definitely Peony's instinct to fight, even if she's not quite as aware of her surroundings as she'd like to be — chalk it up to being new to the city. So her assailant is able to grab her with the element of surprise on their side, and Peony only just stifles a yelp of shock. She may be out of her depth sneaking around, but she's not about to completely blow the job by drawing attention to her current predicament.

— Which she is swiftly responding to, drawing out her own dagger, hesitantly only a moment when a blade flashes in the moonlight as she attempts to lift her own to her assailant's throat, her heart beating hard and fast in her chest. ]

About time I got a warm Lominsa welcome...

[ She hisses under her breath, but making no further move. ]

[ Well now, they’re quick on the draw, Blaze will give them that, though her’s is the superior reach. She’s not terribly worried about the blade at her own throat for the moment. ]

Someone must be slacking, then.

[ Comes the rather airy reply, somewhere well over the Miqo’te’s head ].

I couldn’t help but notice you were trailing my target, which of course leads me to ask: friend or foe?

[ That's the very question Peony is dying to know the answer to as well, though from the way her assailant — someone much taller than her, though that's not exactly unusual — phrases it, the former seems more likely. And even if that's not the case, Peony isn't about to make herself out to be an enemy, and while her stealth isn't the sharpest, she's a much better liar. ]

Sure you weren't trailing my target?

[ She sighs, but lowers the arm that holds her blade. She hardly has the advantage here, anyway. ]

But that being the case, we just might be going after the same thief. Truce? I won't slit your throat if you don't slit mine?

Well, when you put it like that…

[ Blaze sounds almost agreeable, but she knows better. Just because she prefers to employ stealth and subterfuge doesn’t mean she’s unaware of how others might twist words to their advantage. No honor among thieves and all that. ]

I might consider it, if you tell me what you want with our friend - our friend who is swiftly gaining ground on us, might I add.

[ Peony would very much like to know that out of the Roe as well, but once again, she's not really in a position to negotiate. Better to tell the truth, though whether or not her assailant believes her is another matter. ]

Our friend is on his way to get something my client would like recovered. You're not gonna risk losing him by waiting for more details, are you?

[ Two can play that game. ]

Your client. Seems everyone wants that little trinket.

[ That certainly answers one question, though the matter of whether this miqo’te is friend or foe remains unanswered. There’s as good a chance that she’s working for Aldenard as there is of her working for some other black marketeer, but Blaze can work with this at the very least. ]

Two heads are better than one, I think. Howsabout I let you go, and if you keep your stabbers to yourself, we can both track down our fleet-footed friend.

[ Okay, she can work with that. She's used to improvising, even if an unexpected companion is a bit out of the ordinary for her. The roegadyn might just as soon slip a knife between her ribs as not once they've recovered the goods, but that's a problem for future Peony.

Foresight never was exactly her strong suit. ]

Alright, alright, I'll cooperate! But let's get a move on already, shall we? He's getting away!

[ She wiggles in the roegadyn's grip to suggest haste, even if she isn't outright trying to wrestle free. That's not a match of strength she would win. ]

[ It’s a good thing she’s a woman of honor, since the miqo’te never makes Blaze swear to do the same. Still, she lifts her blade and arm both away from the slight and impatiently wriggling figure in front of her, letting her loose.

Blaze gives her dagger a little twirl before tucking it neatly into its place at her belt. ]

Let’s go, then.

[ With that, she darts down the alley, footfalls oddly silent as she trusts her new hopefully-a-friend to follow. ]

[ And follow she does, quite closely. Though it's not quite so impressive in her case, Peony moves along as silently as Blaze does, her instincts sharpening as she listens for the sound of any other unexpected assailants. She also listens for any sound of betrayal, because even if she didn't ask Blaze to agree to the same, neither does she want to wind up with a knife in her gut.

That's more likely once they've actually recovered the goods, but one doesn't get far in this line of work without learning to be very, very careful.

They're nearly to the ship now, and the black marketeer is none the wiser to their presence. As he ascends to the deck, Peony slips up behind some nearby crates, pressing herself flat against them as her ears twitch in the direction of softly-spoken voices. Time to see how this unfolds. ]

[ open rp post ]

lmk if this works! non-wol favor for both of them probs

works perfect!!!

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