forum I won't go quietly, I'm bringin' my crown // oxo // closed

Started June 06, 2019 by @croccin-champagne

tune

"I had two little sisters," Dorian replied, "Those two things are practically the only two things I"m good at." He shrugged, shaking his head to himself for a second.

"Then I migh' have an idea for gettin' by withou' suspicion." Ally said, changing direction and starting down a different street. "How good're ya at actin'?"

Dorian tilted his head curiously, almost falling over at the sudden change of direction but catching himself quick enough, "Not the best but good enough. What's the plan?"

“I know somewhere we can ge’ a wagon. “ Ally said, her eyes never ceasing their scanning of her surroundings. “Figure pretendin’ t’ be travellin’ storytellers might be our best bet.”

Dorian hummed and nodded, "Nice plan. Should work if we play it well enough."

"We gotta, if we wanna get away with this." Ally said simply, one hand slipping into her trenchcoat as though she was looking for something. A person on the street seemed to catch her eye, just for a moment, before she looked forward once more. If someone was paying attention, they might notice the way she carefully, and with great skill, altered their path gradually. She knew what she was doing, and she knew how to avoid being caught.

Dorian kept his demeanour relaxed, even though his hand was close to his sword in case trouble arose and he needed to use it. He could tells Ally was skilled, incredibly so. More so then some of the knights he knew… or had known.

Shoving down the crawling sensation on her gut, Ally bumped into a man they passed, steadying him with a ‘my bad’ before continuing on. Her skin crawled, but she had accomplished her goal. Leading Dorian to the entrance of an alley, she leaned against the wall, pulling a wallet from somewhere in her jacket and flipping through it. “An’ now we wait.”

Dorian blinked once, narrowing his eyes at the wallet but he supposed they had to do what they had to, even if he didn't approve. He paced slowly in front of her, drumming his fingers against the hilt of his sword.

“Don’ look at me like that.” Ally said, catching the look he’d given the wallet. “I’m a thief. It’s wha’ I do. ‘Sides, he won’ come unless I got somethin’ o’ his.”

“If I didn’t need your help I should have you arrested.” The prince mumbled, continuing to pace, “I guess that’s lucky for you.”

“Ya could always try.” Ally said, completely unconcerned by that. Maybe mentioning that the man she was drawing in had tried to kill her on more than one occasion would make it better, but she didn’t care. I have no reason to explain myself to this man. “But ya wouldn’ be the first, your highness.”

Dorian tried not to grimace at the title. He;d always hated it but now it made his heart want to explode, like he knew he didn't deserve the title, "Yes whatever, I know there's no point anyway."

“No cell can hold a ghost.” Ally muttered, to herself, as she looked back at the wallet. Her eyes lifted sharply to the entrance, a few moments before a man stumbled into the alley, looking frantic. She shouldn’t have been able to know he was coming, but she did.

“Fuck. What’s it take to get ya to leave me alone, Ghost? I want my wallet.” The man reached out as he approached her, pausing suddenly. Ally was playing idly with a knife, the wallet not even in her hands, an eyebrow raised. “W-What?”

Dorian stopped pacing and looked the man up and down once before going back to pacing as if nothing happened. Hopefully they’d get away with this.

"Jus' need a favor." Ally said, her fingers curling almost unnoticeably at the word favor. Luckily, there was a reason she had taken his wallet. Favors made debt, but she always payed the debt off right away, even if it was with someone else's money. "A gypsy wagon."

"Are you kidding? Do you know how much work it is to get those, let alone replace them?" The man shook his head, muttering something about her being crazy.

Alright then.

"Hmph." She looked off, at the intangible figure of one of her usual spirit companions, playing to the fact that it weirded Nikolai out. "Say, how's 'at new girl o' yours doin'? Alexia, was it? Daughter of the Duke out in Weston?" That got the response she wanted. Nikolai's eyes grew wide as the blood left his face. She shouldn't know about his girlfriend. Nobody should, in fact, because he was working so hard to keep her a secret from the nasty people he associated with.

Dorian looked up at Ally and then to Nikolai then back to Ally and then to Nikolai, “Alexia? How did you manage to get in contact with her?”

“Contact her? Oh, no, yer mistaken.” Liar. You took her out for lunch to get to know her a bit. Ally raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest. “Pretty little thing, for sure. Ain’t never seen eyes that blue.”

“Don’t you touch her, Ghost.” Nikolai warned, though his voice shook wavered slightly. She had him where she wanted him, and both of them new it. “I’ll get you your wagon.”

“Now. We need the wagon now, Nikolai.”

“Wha-. I can’t get it that quick, bit with-“

Ally pushed off the wall, just shifting, but not bothering to let him know that.

“Fine, Fine, alright. Follow me.”

Dorian relaxed his grip on his sword ever so slightly, hardly noticeable as he followed. He glanced at Ally, then back to Nikolai with a look that read How’d you know that would work? he knew he shouldn’t be surprised yet a tiny part of him was.

Ally just tapped her temple with two fingers, once and then twice. It worked because Nikolai wasn’t a bad man. He got attached to people, cared about them, all while unwittingly putting them at risk. Risk to people like her.

Nikolai led them along a winding path of streets and alleys, before they reached a parking lot of sorts full of tied up wagons and caravans. “Wait here, I’ll go grab it.” He said, slipping off between the wagons. Ally looked up at the roof of one of the neighboring buildings, signaling Gyriel to follow him and make sure he didn’t run.

Dorian drummed his fingers lightly against the hilt of his sword, eyes following Nikolai before they drifted back to Ally, “I’d ask how you knew about the girl but then again, I don’t want to know.”

“‘Cause I know Nikolai. And funny enough, runnin’ into her was more by accident. An accident that turned out in my favor.” Ally said, shrugging a shoulder. “When fortune allows you that happenstance, take it up.”

“You’re not wrong there.” He mumbled, rocking back and forth on his heels. He hoped Nikolai would hurry up. The quicker they got moving the better.

A few minutes later, Nikolai returned, leading a horse pulling along a caravan. “Here’s your damned vehicle. I really hope I never see you again, Ghost.”

“Most people feel that way.” Ally said, shrugging a shoulder so nonchalantly it seemed she really couldn’t be bothered to care. “But I’m sure you’ll see me again. Somewhere. Have a nice night, Nikolai.”

"Thanks for the help." The Prince sad, nodding slightly to the other male. He headed over to the horse, giving it a few strokes on his nose.

"You seem a good enough guy. I'm not sure why you're hanging out with the likes of her, but I suggest getting out as soon as you can. She's nothing but trouble." Nikolai warned Dorian, shaking his head and flashing a slightly fearful look to the assassin, who was checking the harness of the brightly colored and intricately carved caravan. She was making sure the harness wouldn't dig into the steed and harm it, but nobody needed to know that.

"He's not wrong." Ally said with a shrug, as Nikolai disappeared again. "But you need my help for now, so I'll play nice. Ish. Now c'mon, we wanna get outta here quick."

“Thanks for the warning, I appreciate it.” Dorian replied, giving Nikolai a two fingered salute before he disappeared form view. He climbed onto the caravan, nodding to Ally to let her know he was ready to go.

Ally snorted once Nikolai was fully gone, shoulders relaxing from their rigid position as she swung herself up onto the caravan with minor difficulty thanks to her height. She settled on the bench, clucking her tongue softly three times, which somehow got the horse moving. "An', we're off."

Dorian sighed, crossing his arms and leaning back slightly, "So, how does any actually get into the whole…. assassin business, anyway?"