It was becoming almost habitual. Stalking a prey. Watching their movements. Tracing their steps. Tracking their patterns had become easier, and almost second nature. The memorization of routes, favorite locations, and even bathroom habits had been relegated to automatic storage, as if breathing.

After his first, almost botched attempt at tracking a man across the world, Lewis had found each subsequent kill easier. He was getting faster, and more efficient. Now, onto his fifth mark, Lewis found himself perched atop a granite statue of some angelic figure. Across the street, lit up by a variety of different lamps and magical devices, was a greenhouse. Contrast to the cold weather outside, the interior looked warm and welcoming, with plant life thriving.

It was here that Lewis had tracked his latest mark. A purveyor of poisons, counterfeit coins, and (in Lewis’ eyes the worst), slavery. This man, like many that Lewis tracked, had a penchant for child slaves. The orphans that could not defend themselves, that would beg on the street for a handout. Then, they could be lured into sweatshops, be brainwashed, or worse. And that couldn’t happen. That was the entire reason that he and Xeik had started the thieve’s guild.

The assassin had been waiting for about 10 minutes now. His mark had walked indoors, and had disappeared from view. Lewis knew for a fact that there was only one entrance in and out of the greenhouse. More than likely, this was a meeting about a special type of poison that could only be procured through natural means. During the last 10 minutes, though, Lewis hadn’t budged.

Despite being a thief and assassin, Lewis had never managed to learn much magic. He had used a small spell to alter his appearance, but could barely hold the illusion past making his body and clothing match the granite. Anyone with a skilled eye might catch the oddly shaped, almost lifelike statue, but he knew his mark wouldn’t.

The greenhouse door opened, and the target walked out, shivering in the cold before bundling up. Finally. Lewis waited for the man to walk a block out, and then moved across the rooftops to follow, keeping a distance.

He’ll turn here. As planned, the target turned. Street should be empty at this time. He dropped to the ground, barely making a sound in the soft snow. His body moved as if it were a breeze, and he started to clear the distance.

Perfection. His hand was already reaching to pull his dagger out. Everything according to plan.

A day off from tracking was something that Dae desperately needed. He hadn’t been taking himself off the jobs that his contact were giving him in a while. There was an unfortunate ring of degenerates that he had stumbled into that he couldn’t bring himself to leave the situation alone. His contact was of the same opinion. For now, Dae wanted to take a break from blades and blood. Instead, he found himself in a newer location that deemed entertaining enough for a vacation of sorts. Even though he was on a self-proclaimed vacation, he still wore his usual array of daggers hidden across his body. There were no plans for violence. Even so he could not go into public without his necessities.

The white leather armor was still his typical dress, but today he had the hood down to expose his dark brown hair. Gray eyes observed his surroundings with excitement of not having a job for the day. He could relax for once. This particular city was a feast for the eyes when taking in all the designs and color palette of the dark granite contrasting with the snow all around. Dae had come to the city with his family a time ago for the Celestial Ball. It had been an active affair that had led to his soon to be stepfather being attacked by an assassin sent by his future uncle. It had been that night that Dae had decided what he would do with his blessed skills.

Dae shook his head while thinking about all that had come together for the young man to stand in Zets’Ki Cradle. It still felt like a dream having been saved by Lord Raktor while still an infant. Calloused hand ran through his short hair as he glanced around him. It was then that he caught sight of something out of place. Orbs narrowed as he focused on the statue. Darkness swirled at the corners of his eyes as if it were going to take it over completely. His throat bobbed as he saw the form jump from that position up to the roof tops. Dae sighed heavily as he noticed the stalking behavior. He shifted his gaze carefully towards the obvious target.

It was too light out. This was all too obvious. Dae let himself clear his throat before following a distance. From the corner he leaned on the building as he watched the clear amateur went for his marked man. It was most likely going to be a clean kill that was the hope. What was unnoticed were the men waiting at the other end of the street for the target. They were far enough away to not notice anything was off. If their master did go missing there would be hell to pay. Dae clicked his tongue before moving down the street. Before the ‘assassin’ could make his kill, the shade hybrid swiftly crossed the distance to put the target in a sleeper hold. No sound was made by a light exhale of breath before the man was asleep.

Dae leaned the man against the wall while commanding the shadows to hold the body up as if he were taking a break from an exhaustive walk. ”Get over here you fool,” he hissed at the assassin. His gray eyes flashed at him as if ordering him to stash his blade. ”Are you out of your mind to take your mark during the day without enough cover? Where is your head covering? To cover your identity? Who the hell trained you….or didn’t train you.” Dae could feel the muscles in his jaw feather as he glared at the shorter male. He looked roughly the same age as Dae, yet his inexperience was showing. ’You will get yourself killed, along with others if you work like this habitually. Who is this mark anyway.”

Back was kept to the far end of the street as his fingers danced slightly for the shadows to begin naturally darken the path. Hood was brought up over his head to cover his features beneath it. A vacation was not about to be had today it seemed.

Lewis had been careless. He had been tracked from the very beginning, all the way up to the point where the kill should have been executed without a flaw. Except, there was a major flaw. His inexperience would cost him.

Had the would-be assassin blinked, he would have missed it. By no means did Lewis think he was an expert, but after seeing, or rather, not seeing the movements of a true assassin at work, he would realize in the future just how much work and effort he would have to put in. But for now, Lewis was shocked and confused. It took him but a moment longer than it should have to realize that everything had changed in a split second.

The teen followed the instructions given, against his better judgement, and made his way towards the true assassin’s location, sheathing his dagger. The whole thing was about to blow up if he wasn’t careful. The days of work and tracking would be for nothing if this assassin was against him.

However, he was more surprised at the elf’s chastising remarks than anything. Cover? Light of day? Training? They were all technically valid, but to an orphan on the streets, none of that had seemed relevant at the time.

“I-” he started, almost letting his guard down. No. His eyes narrowed as he glared at the assassin. “Who even are you to be making these calls. I had it under control no problem.” The boy looked down the street again, and noticed that there were two figures off in the distance. He had missed that.

Lewis cursed himself mentally, and glanced back to the assassin. “Derrick Lawson. His moniker is Resplendence, due to a poisonous drug he sells in Hoja. The drug dulls the minds of those he sells it to. He has a team, then, who either steals from or abducts those affected by the drug, and sells everything in a black market. There’s a large slave market in Hoja, and he’s trying to capitalize on it. I’m trying to prevent it.”

The senior assassin was relieved to see that the novice took notice of his errors. Dae had run across inexperienced assassins in the past, but it had been too late most of the times. If they were made there was little he could do to protect them from their own marks. Assassins were not known for their sheer strength. Qualities such as cunning along with stealth were the tricks of the trade. It was their trait to always be smarter than those being targeted. When that was the case, that meant assured death. Dae would not stand by this time.

With the target properly propped against the wall properly staged. Attention was brought back to the ‘boy’ as he attempted to show some signs of defiance. Dae held in a chuckle. He couldn’t blame the novice considering someone else was stepping on his toes. If this was a paid contract than it could take away his commission if this failed. ”Try to contain your venom, I am here to help. I wasn’t sent by anyone. I’m sympathetic to those in need. And boy, you are in need.” He nodded to the men at the end of the alley again. The pair were chatting each other up nonchalantly, but Dae took notice of their darted glances as if searching for someone. Unfortunately, they were going to have to wait.

”My name is Dae Balatro. I can make these calls because I clearly have more experience. Take my advice as a donation to your future endeavors. You can thank me later for the fact you have the potential to have a future.” Dae smirked down at him before looking back towards the target.

Derrick Lawson. He had been a dossier from his contact. Even though he had been on vacation, it was still good to gather intelligence while out. Dae stepped closer Derrick as his head was pressed harshly against the cold wall behind him. Shadows lightly licked across his skin as if it were begging to cut at any moment. ”So, he is indeed a naughty boy. You followed him well….what was your name? In your future hunts you must make sure not to trail just your target. Get a broad view of the world around. We are not horses with blinders on. It is essential to our trade that we know every potential outcome.” Dae did not often talk about his trade in death for it conflicted with the Family. They were healers; protectors of life. The shade hybrid knew that he was accomplishing a similar goal even if it were in a different tactic.

”What about those that work beneath him? Have you dealt with them? Is there someone in the wings that is waiting to take his place? If you have already dealt with the ring, than this can be handled now. If not, than it would be better to see how deep this goes. Cutting the head off a snake is well-enough. You best be sure it is a snake….and not a hydra. Cut off one head; two more take its place.”

The whole thing was agitating for the would be assassin, but despite this frustrating turn of events, Lewis felt it would be better to listen rather than scorn the help. After all, he wasn’t doing this for himself, and if something happened to him, the rest of the guild would be left without a proper leader until Xeik got back. And there was no telling how long that would take.

When Dae asked his name, Lewis had a thought to lie. But at this point, the assassin had to have a gauge on how Lewis was as a person, and thought against it, saying his name almost hesitantly. “Lewis…erm…just Lewis,” he said. Being an orphan meant he had no family name. Normally, when he fought for the guild, he went by Dawn, a chosen name from the guild, but he felt as though saying it was a betrayal to their cause.

The boy listened intently. A broader perspective was something that he lacked. As he thought back to the way Xeik acted when they had planned their first few operations, he wondered just how much of the whole picture his leader had seen. I have to get it right. His attention went back to Dae, though, as he started asking a variety of questions.

“Beneath him?” Lewis asked back. He hadn’t considered it. Up until now, the underlings had usually not been in the picture that Lewis held in his mind. “And someone just waiting to replace him…” Lewis frowned, and looked to the snowy ground. Everything that Dae was saying now was true. Taking out the head may, indeed not be enough.

“And in some cases…the next in line could be worse…” Lewis took a deep breath. Just how much had he messed up?

“You have…brought a lot to my attention,” he said slowly. “So the next course of action then…” He looked to Derrick, whom was out cold. “We can’t very well let him loose now. What options are there?” At this point, he had no real choice but to defer to the more experienced assassin. “Take his place? Is that even a possibility?”

On his vacation he was forcing his will on a would-be assassin. Dae should have kept his nose out of it. He should have left the boy to do his tidings the way he saw fit. And yet, the elder assassin did not want to see someone attempting to do good be put in a wretched way. It was clear that the inexperienced trader in death had need of a skilled hand to guide him. There was always a bigger picture to take into account that few realized when first starting out.

”Well, just Lewis,” he said with a teasing laugh, ”how do you wish to proceed. This is your assignment. This is your hunt. All is your decision. I can give advice until I am blue in the face. You must decide in the end what is to be the final conclusion.” Dae stared hard into the other’s face as he waited for a response. His contracts were all fulfilled, so he did not have the right to take one from someone else. Who knew what or how this contract was given to one so inexperienced. Though Dae felt for him. He was tempted to take him under his wing to guide him on such things. The young man seemed to have a good heart.

Gray orbs shifted from Lewis towards the offender. Dae’s gloved hand cupped the target’s face between finger and thumb. Shifting the man’s face around, the assassin finally shrugged. ”There isn’t much in there, actually. For all the hatefulness that fills his core….there wouldn’t be much difficulty in adjusting his memories.” Dae let go of the man’s face to allow his head to slump to his chest again. It was a harsh movement that would later lead to a strained neck.

”This mission is bigger than you had anticipated, that much is clear. We can let him loose now for you to do further research. Even with that, I can help you with the project. I have excellent contacts.” There was a mischievous smirk upon his lips that could be seen from beneath the shadows of his hood. ”Let us work on this together….if you wish. Otherwise, I can help you bring this to whatever conclusion you wish for the day. From there I can leave this all to you. Either way, it is fully your decision.”

A brotherly like smack on Lewis’s shoulder was given in an attempt to reassure him. His smile broadened as if it would take any sting out of his words. ”So, kill the bugger? Alter his memory? That I can provide that service. Or just let him loose as is. Though…if we do leave him go now, he will be a little worse for wear.” Dae couldn’t help but poke Derrick’s cheek. It would be so easy to plunge his wrist dagger into the vulnerable neck. The temptation was there. With ease he could take the nasty man’s life, but it was not his call. He wanted Lewis to decided what path they should take.

It was a great deal to take in. Obviously Lewis had stumbled upon something that was far bigger than he had anticipated. His mark was far higher up the chain than Lewis had accounted for, and the web of ties that the man had were farther reaching than the boy would have initially given him credit for.

The fact of the matter was that Lewis was far outreaching his capabilities. This brought about a different set of problems that would have to be sorted out later, but in the short term, going through with the kill wasn’t an option anymore, despite Dae stating it as one. No, at this point, killing him would cause more problems than it would solve. Dae had offered his assistance in memory altercation, but it couldn’t be cheap, and though Lewis had his own stash separate from the guild, he knew it would not begin to cover the cost.

I need help. Resources outside of the guild.

“How much would it take to alter his memory?” Lewis asked, on the off chance it was something he could afford. “Killing him is out of the question…” He looked down at the mark. Killing him would be simple at this point. The boy looked away, disgusted at the fact that he was about to let him go.

“More information would be the best course of action. I…wasn’t aware it ran this deep.” He glanced at Dae to see if there was a reaction to his inexperience. He was almost loathing his weakness at this point. But at least he had a goal now. Not just a man, but an entire organization. Perhaps the ties he severed would break down other criminal organizations as well.

“I…want to take them all down. But for that, he needs to go free. If I can’t afford the memory alteration, then setting him loose is the only other option.” Lewis glanced at the two contacts down the way. “If I cannot alter his memory, then a strategic withdrawal is in place. I won’t be able to make any moves against them for awhile until they drop their guard.” He looked to Dae. “Well…does that seem like a fair assessment?”