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An Inn for the travellers!

((Ilsa/Arisha))

Alexei was making his way towards the lovely inn. He had chosen this spot simply because no one came near the inn this early. Unless they were farmers and had to make haste at the crack of dawn, but everything else was totally silent. This morning, Alexei couldn't believe his luck! He was able to sneak through the corridors and eventually came upon one of the old passageways hidden in the castle. It had led him outside the gardens and he found the gate of which showed him to a lake. Once he figured out where he was, Alexei ran in a determined direction and easily came to enter the town. And now, he quickened his pace, praying that the little mouse actually did show up. If she didn't, then it would prove that she had not only wasted his time. . . but a good morning breakfast as well.

The girl had shown up, and had not, in fact, ditched him. A rotund, merry woman delivered his breakfast. "Ah," she said, in recognition. "You must be the peach faced golden scarecrow dressed nicely. I'll go fetch the little dear from the back alley." She winked. "I don't give charity often, but I gave the urchin some food last night. Your sister, is she?" She asked, not waiting for an answer as she retreated towards the kitchen.

A moment later, Arisha poured in from the front door, rubbing at her face, her hair a monstrous tangle. "Hullo, Silver," she yawned, eyes sleepy and exhausted.

Alexei stared at the Round face woman with a curious expression as she seemed to indicate that the mouse was here. He smiled to himself. Ha! So she got here even earlier than he? Remarkable. When Alexei hear a tiny voice call from the front, he stood up and stroked over towards her. She looked a little sleepy but other than that, utterly normal. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and said, "Come on. Let's get you something to eat, then we can go on with business." Once he had sat down he began to cut up some scrambled eggs and dragged each piece to one side so they could share. "You can't think well on an empty stomach. I know, because it has happened to even me. I forget the most important meal for the day and then I can't concentrate."

She'd slept in the alley overnight, truthfully, giving the woman some money to wake her if Alexei showed his face. The woman wasn't one for charity, but she did have a soft heart when she could spare it. She looked more stunned than not when he offered to buy her breakfast. Like a brother, almost, or a family member. Maybe sort of like Vamis. "I can pay?" she offered, pulling out the silver he'd given her the other day. She hadn't expected to eat off the same plate as him! Was that some sort of test? Which had meaning, like, she was officially in the crew if she shared from the same plate and table as the leader? Apparently, he was rich enough to have a breakfast every single day! She rubbed at her face, slowly waking up, and despite reservations, helped herself to what he offered to share. "Thanks," she said, the word sounding unfamiliar, coming from her mouth.

"Nonsense. You will eventually be my employee and a good employer always treats out his people," Alexei said, not entirely sure if that was true or not but if felt like something a true smuggler would say. He studied her carefully as she ate, wondering what was going on in that little head of hers. Nonetheless, Alexei dug in as well. "I hope this shows how successful we are in the trade," he said to her in a hushed voice. "The breakfast, I mean. You see, most smugglers can't even afford a wonderful breakfast like this." He didn't mean to sound snobby, but how else could he be able to hire her in a nonexistent job while making it sound like a worthwhile one? He certainly couldn't just kidnap her in a potato sack. "And you're welcome. I do hope I can hear that word more often from you."

The girl was tempted to fall asleep in her chair, head buried in the wood of the table. She wasn't going to make such a bad impression, though! She couldn't afford to. Her movements were slow and sluggish, and her eyes half-lidded. It would be very easy to get her into a potato sack. "Mmhmm, whatever you say," she agreed. She didn't care much about shows of money; she wanted the job, whatever he asked. "This must be your favorite place to eat, if you praise the breakfast so highly," she pointed out, wishing for juice, but knowing it was likely too expensive for her, and she wasn't going to ask him for anything more than he was willing to give. "I can fight," she said, ignoring his compliment of her thanks, "I can sneak around, and I can do lots of things, whatever you want," she said, cutting more to the quick of this meeting.

"Oh, I have no doubt about that. You street urchins always tend to pick up on certain things. Quite literally, I might add," Alexei said with a chuckle. As she began to seem more and more sleepy, Alexei was almost half inclined to order a room for her and tuck her in a cozy bed. But that was not their mission for today! He must keep her awake by any means possible. And if he truly was a smuggler, one would have to make sure if their employees could handle their duties even when half asleep. "Very well," he began, stretching out his body. He then spoke with a loud, hushed voice to father the attention of the mouse. He leaned over and said, "Your first task is to steal that man's purse." Alexei gestured subtly to a man of high rank and one which would easily have mousey's little head if she failed to do the job right. Or, that's how Alexei ordered them man to play it out. "Be cautious, little one, I wouldn't want everything to go horribly wrong on your first day."

She hesitated. Even sleepy, she was still sharp. "Smugglers don't steal," she corrected him, "They smuggle things into cities and countries to avoid tax levies. What's the purpose of stealing some man's bag of coin?" She was pretty sure it was a test, and she was pretty sure she'd fail it if she stuck around to hear his answer, so she ducked under the table. If he looked under, she simply wouldn't be there. She was bending the light around her, so it was impossible to view her. Her eyes, though, her eyes were there, pale and sleepy. Just two floating orbs. If she bent the light around her eyes, she'd be blinded too, after all! She just had to be sneaky, and squint mostly. She crept quietly along the floor towards the victim, just as a shadow seemingly exploded quietly on the wall across from the man. Assuming he was shocked enough at the disturbance of physics to look, she reached her hand into the purse, leaving the actual pouch intact, and careful, with fingers lighter than one could possibly think possible, emptied the contents into her fists, bending the light around them as well. Hopefully the shadow had startled the man too much, and hopefully his purse's contents weren't noisy, and if they were, hopefully he just couldn't find the culprit. Pickpocketing was easier with tricks, but there was no guarantee ever. Leaving the purse intact wasn't what others would do, but taking the contents and leaving the bag meant the man might question if he had been robbed, or if he'd merely dropped his money.

"No, most don't, but how else do you think the rest of us get by, hm? By thieving. I didn't think that it would be a problem," Alexei said with a stern tone. A true smuggler would quickly point out his faults and the way he was playing, but Alexei wanted to see what the little mouse could do. But before he could say anything else, she was gone. He even looked under the table of which she had disappeared under and found so trace of her. Either, she was absolutely amazing at staying hidden, or she had some sort of ability which concealed her. Alexei counted the seconds as they went and even glanced over at the man's pouch. Nothing bad moved and she wasn't even making a sound, provided she actually was robbing him.

She crawled out from under the table and put the contents of the bag under his plate, where hopefully they wouldn't be seen. "Happy?" She asked, boldly taking a strip of bacon and curling up on the chair, about ready to go to bed again, but forcibly keeping herself awake.

"Yes, er, well done," Alexei mumbled, taking the coins and slipping them in his own coin purse. He still couldn't wrap his head around how she had possibly been able to sneak around and collect what was needed. Did she have some sort of invisible ability? Or maybe it was the Ability of concealment? Either way, Alexei was mightily impressed with the mouse's efforts. When she seemed just about to fall asleep, Alexei smiled to himself and shooked his head. "Mouse? You can't fall asleep just yet. One more task and then we'll be done," he said softly, scooting out of his chair and shaking her. "Come on. We now test your swift abilities. Should I need you to deliver something while we are being attacked, I need to know if you can bring the package safe and sound. Come on. Outside we go."

"If you keep calling me mouse, I'm going to start calling you Princess again," she complained. At least while they were sitting in here, it was warm and there was food. She wished she could prolong it. Was he really going to let all of that wonderful food go to waste like that, just leaving it be? The thought was shocking, but she wasn't going to waste this opportunity, even if it meant giving up the remainder on that heaping plate he'd ordered. "I'm not falling asleep," she complained grumpily, feeling much like falling asleep despite herself. "You don't want me fighting with you?" she asked, annoyed. Of course, being a child, she'd probably be selected to run errands and carry important things. Children were less-likely targets, and smaller targets for archers. "I can fight," she protested, "I can show you."

"Come on," Alexei pouted. "At least call me Prince, since I am a boy, after all." Hm. Maybe he should really cut it on calling her mouse. She just seemed to fit the name perfectly. She was as cute as a mouse, with a bit rough edges, however, and she was as quiet as one too so the name only seemed to fit. "I do, trust me, there will be times where you will have to fight for yourself, but. . . I don't know. I'm a huge softie, in case you haven't noticed, and should anything happen. . . I wouldn't want you to get in the cross fire is all." Even though this was an act, even though none of this was real, Alexei wouldn't dream of anything happening to her. He simply couldn't live with himself. Glancing around the room and finally rested his eyes on mouse, he said with a teasing tone, "We go outside, otherwise you won't get the job. And this last one will determine just how brilliant you. Well, how much you're worth, that is. A full five Silvers."

The little mouse nodded. He hadn't even asked her name yet, tragically. "Fine, Prince Silver," she yawned, sliding towards the door. "You don't need to tell me twice, Boss," she drawled, pretty tiny all the same. She had no clue she'd actually tripped on his true name. It was so cute, though! The way he was a softie and stern, and their characters worked well together, just interacting. "I'm going to ace your test, and then I get to get a real bed," she insisted. Five whole silvers! It was unbelievable. She could actually sleep.

Alexei's expression remained neutral when she said Prince Silver. He nearly stiffened, which would've definitely caused attention to himself, but in his mind, he mentally kicked himself for being so loose with a name like Silver. "Well technically, I did have to tell you twice but let's get on with the next test, shall we?" He said, leading her gently as he placed a firm hand on her shoulder and guided mouse outside. Alexei then walked them over to an alley which was purposely laid out with multiple obstacles in the way. A barrel, a crate of fish which stanked up the alley, and glass shards littered the stone floor. "There you are mouse; your next test. I want you, to dodge the items in your way and then," he pointed to a roof and trailed upwards, "climb up that roof. Think you can amange it, sleepy bones?"

He was a little hopeless. Almost as hopeless as she was. But not quite. "You didn't even need to wake me up for this one," she scoffed. "I could have navigated this while still asleep!" Her toes were freezing the instant she stepped out into the cold. With the coin, she could get some war boots, maybe even lightly used boots with not much wear! She couldn't wait to have a full, warm outfit. She'd left everything when she'd run from Vamis's attackers, and a mugging while she slept in an alley robbed her of waistcoat, jacket, and shoes. She'd since managed with some rotting sandals she'd found in rubbish, and had hidden herself when she'd slept almost every night after. She scoffed at his little obstacle course. Sleepily, she wove her way over barrels, leaping lightly, and used doorframes and windowsills to keep from disrupting the glass. When she did need to walk through the glass, she pirhouetted like a dancer, head spinning to keep a constant eye on the field. A long shard of glass bit painfully into her heel, but she bit back a cry, continuing on. She reached the desired building, scaling the drainpipe as if it were a ladder.

As the mouse leapt over each obstacle, it amazed Alexei that she could be so nimble and quick. While it had escaped his mind that the younger folk tended to be a bit more slippery, watching the mouse proved to him that the younger were the sort that needed to be kept an eye on. Well at least, the younger folk like mouse. He didn't, however, see that she had injured herself and urged her to keep going as he called out, "Hurry, mouse! The gangsters are upon us!" He chuckled at this and smiled joyfully.

She reached the top of the roof, walking slightly awkwardly, and stuck her head over the edge. "What now, M'prince?" she called, much, much more alert than before. That was probably due to the fact that her foot was killing her. She'd nearly fallen while near the top. How would that look? A prince told a child to climb a sheer building for the opportunity for some meager silvers, and the child fell and died. That would have been wonderful. "Are you coming up?" She asked, suddenly bold. Could this guy even do what she had?

"I would, buuut, I can't very well be your employer and risk injuring myself, now can I?" Alexei called out, cupping his hands around his mouth. He walked with a bounce in his step as he made his way over to the mouse. "I must say, those were some of the most amazing skills I've seen. And compliments aren't something I toss out freely." He gave a grave gaze towards the little mouses bht broke into a charming smile. "So mousey, how do you think you did today? Worthy of being a part of my crew?"

She rolled her eyes. Of course, he could wade through broken glass with those thick, strong boots. She almost wabted to take them and keep them forever. Good shoes were never appreciated until they were gone. She called down at him, "I'd better be good enough! If you woke me up early for nothing, I'd kick some shingles down on your head," she bit, angry and grumpy mostly because of the glass in her foot.

"Aww, don't sound too upset, mouse," Alexei said with a chuckle, officially wishing he had some sort of telekinesis to his added list of abilities. "Well, I suppose I could climb up there. . . Hang on." And the girl's thoughts were correct. He wore fairly well boots which kept his toes nice and warm in the chilly weather and they thick soles as well. Perfect for if he should step on some Glass. Alexei tried to copy the areas where she had placed her shoes but proved to be quite difficult since he was much heavier than she was. The crates wobbled underneath his boots so he jumped, only to be hanging on to only a piece of pipe. He knew that the mouse wouldn't help so he propped his elbows up and tried lifting his body up. Much to his dismay, groaning was involved as he finally rolled on his back and licked his lips from the excursion. Legs dangling off the roof, Alexei stared up into the sky and said, "Now, I believe we can discuss business here, don you?" He glance curiously atvher direction

"I'd say you're a mediocre scout. I might hire you if everyone else is out sick," she joked dryly, teeth gritted. She held her foot at her opposite side, so hopefully he wouldn't notice the cut and refrain from hiring her, but it was bleeding. "Well, do you want me or not?" She bit, shivering on the rooftop. Her cloak was hardly successful from keeping the icy chill at bay. Anxiously, she started prying at the matts in her hair. Somehow, the hair was coming loose much more easily than might be expected.

Alexei than sat up straight and raised an eyebrow at the girl. "My, I certainly am honored that you would consider me as a scout, my lady. But I fear that my abilities aren't the best." He teased, lightly poking her on her side. Alexei, however, didn't notice that she was in extreme pain. He did notice that she kept moving her foot about. He simply figured that her foot might just be buzzing for having fallen asleep. "Alright, alright, I was only joking," Alexei said, shaking his head. He saw that the little mouse was shivering slightly and if she was to be his "employee" he would have to take care of her. So he unclasped his warm cloaked which had protected him through many harsh winters and spoke again, "Well I think you did well in the stealing bit and also this part as well. Overall, I see no reason why you wouldn't be hired but. . . we simply have to put away our name calling aside. You stop calling me Lrince or Princess and I'll stop calling you mouse. Out loud or in my head. Deal?"

"I'm not a lady or a mouse," she told him, shifting uncomfortably. His cloak looked warm, as if it had been hanging by a fire only then, however, she was worried that she'd need to show her foot to avoid bleeding all over it if he let her borrow it. What if he didn't want her, then? What if admitting she'd gotten injured made this job opportunity miserable? The blood was beginning to pool, though, and she didn't want it to stain through her clothes, so she pushed her leg further out to the side, fumbling uncomfortably to avoid the red. "What will we call each other, if not names?" she back-talked. Oh yes, this one was a veritable orb of sass.

"Oooo. Good one, mous- Er, I mean, little. Girl," Alexei said to his companion very robotic-like before having a good laugh about it. Then he felt a shift of movement and saw that she had moved her foot yet again and frowned. Was something the matter and that's why she kept moving it around? Or was it simply because she just liked moving her shoe? "Alright. But should I call you if not mouse? It seems to fit you. And what could you call me besides Prince?"

He was a blind little boy, wasn't he? She felt lucky for it, but she wondered how long she could keep up the pretense. "I'm not little," she futilely protested, "And I call you Silver, right? Or Prince Silver, as we negotiated," she explained, hoping that talking would draw his attention away from her foot. "And I don't mind mouse, but someone told me that it was bad luck to be called an animal before you get your animal forms," she pointed out, "You might get stuck as something awful. So, if you're Prince Silver, I must be Princess Purse," she deduced, "Because if you give me lots of jobs, I'll soon have all your silver." He hadn't given her a real name, why should she give him a real one?

"Princess Purse it is!" Alexei agreed with a firm nod. "Or maybe just Purse, eh? I mean, you will be collecting a lot of money so maybe Pirse will suit you better. Unless you're secretly a Royal whom I have no idea about." Even amidst the court, Alexis preferred to know every single Royal or noble that was in the same room as he was. What their backgrounds were like, who they were, and what the people thought of them. That was his job as one of the rulers. Know every single person in the room well enough to force them down should they rise up against you.

She didn't like the name much, but it was as good as any. Besides, he wasn't telling her his true identity. She was pretty sure about that. If she got caught and questioned, she couldn't give him up. "Right, I'm as royal as you are," she scoffed, kicking at the stupid cloak. Noo... she had some blood on it! Damn it, he probably wouldn't pay her for days, just to reimburse himself for the cloak. It was rich and valuable. She huddled. She'd tell him later, after she was warm, or maybe hope he didn't notice. "What do you want me to do, then?" she asked, "Spy through someone's window really quiet?" Arisha guessed.

"No. . ." Alexei said at first then began to trail off as he thought about it. Purse could just about do it and if he needed information, he could just send her up. "Actually, yes. I do. I want you to spy at the tippy top of the inn. I'll catch up with you shortly, but I need you to have one more go at your monkey-like abilites." And besides, he was also testing to see if she was fit enough to do it. For what good was a little thief if they couldn't steal well enough?

She grimaced. "Why didn't we climb that building first?" she asked. She could probably jump the distance, but she didn't want to try it with her injured foot. She'd likely climb down carefully and climb back up. She just had to ignore it for now; she could treat it later, after this stupid meeting. He wasn't even asking anything important of her! This test was just climb and be quiet, like the two before. She could probably knock him down on his backside if he wanted to play at swords, but it seemed he just wanted her to do a bunch of meaningless, stupid stuff, just for the sake of it. For five silvers, she wouldn't complain, but she could still curse him mentally, him and her foot.

"Because," Alexei smiled brightly, "is employeers have our reasons. So go on. Climb little spider." When she didn't budge, Alexei gently nudged her. "Come on. Would you like me to help you? A little boost?" He figured that she may be very tired or felt hesitant to attempt to climb such a building. It wasn't that tall, and Alexei had no doubt she could scale it easily but. . . if she didn't feel like doing it, who was he to force her?

She bit at her lip, feeling ashamed. She couldn't hide it any longer, and he wouldn't hire her after he found out. She stuck her foot out. "It got stabbed pretty early on. I was too careless. I'm sorry. I don't think you'd want me in your smuggler's group." She was mad at herself for losing her good shoes a while ago. "I can still climb," she insisted, getting up and running at the edge of the roof. She jumped, clinging to the side of the inn across the alley, then slowly began scaling the wall.

When she showed her foot to him, Alexei merely shooked his head gravely and said, "My little employee. You're suppose to tell me this before we go on another mission. Now, I can't go on good conscience knowing I allowed you to scale the tower so, we'll just do the tower another day until that foot of yours heals." His face was clear: she wouldn't be on that foot until it got better. And the sooner she got healed, the soooner her training could be done.

Poor guy, she wasn't listening! She was proving that she was good material, that she could work through pain and obstacles to do what he wanted! She looked down from the roof. "Which window do I listen at?" She asked.

"Any one will be good. So long you just don't hurt yourself," Alexei added with a stern look. "I wouldn't want my soon-to-be employee to earn herself some injuries." He eyed her foot warily before saying, "Please let me check it before you hop off. You might have an infection, purse."

Good! He wasn't coddling her, even if her foot was screaming in agony! She slid her head down, tying her head back in a knot, before sliding her head over the edge of the roof and down near the nearest window. It was dead quiet.

Alexei might have gasped several times as the little girl made her way to the destination intended. He simply couldn't help it! She was such a small girl that Alexei felt that it was his duty to make sure she'd stay safe. If Purse gave any sign of struggle during her climb, Alexei was going after her and taking her to safety where he could treat her foot. Well, not him specifically, but someone who could take the proper care necessary to make her better. And he may have also covered his eyes a few times as well. So much for a fearless Silver prince.

He really was scared of revealing himself! He was letting her do so much to prove herself, even with a bloody, aching foot. She frowned at him, shaking her head at him. Nobody was in the window at all! She made her way back towards him. "There's nobody there," she hissed at him from across the roof.

"Really? I could've sworn I saw someone. . ." Alexei said to her as he trailed off and peered into the glass window that there was, indeed, no one there. Inwardly, Alexei cringed, yet again, as he realized that he had made Purse run a false assignment. Was this how it was going to be all the time? He prayed it wouldn't. Gesturing to her, Alexei patted the spot next to him and pulled out an apple for her to have. After all, scaling that must've taken quite a feat from her to do and no doubt she was tired. Hopefully she wouldn't injure herself a second time.

She jumped from the taller rooftop back onto his roof, sliding slightly on the teracotta, before scrabbling back up into her position by his side. She snatched at the apple, sinking her teeth into it. "Thanxsh," she gulped, smacking her lips, devouring the crisp flesh of the fruit with alarming, almost trained speed.

Alexei chuckled as she grabbed the apple from his hand, grateful that she made it safe and sound back to him. "You're welcome. But if you are to be a proper member of my crew, you must learn some proper manners first. Such as-" He patted her cheek with one hand. "-you talking with your mouth full. My fellow members and I hate such improper actions during a meal or anything else. So perhaps, before this is all over, we shall review the common courtesies of the average citizen."

She looked half-tempted to bite his fingers. Manners were most important, more than her hurt foot? Ah, what did she expect. She gulped, swallowing, then, almost painstakingly, shrugged. "Al'ight, I can try to be a proper thief and fighter," she smirked, lifting her chin. If she had to be proper, she was going to want to be a fighter, too!

"Very good my young Padawan," Alexei teased, nudging Purse slightly. "Being a proper thief will get you places you can only dream of. See, if you are downright rude to the person yo wish to steal from, they won't be wanting you in their shop anytime soon. BUT, if you are kind and courteous, you'll see many benefits. At least, that's what my father taught me."

"Pad-a-what?" She asked, wrinkling her nose. "If I'm polite enough, I can rob him blind easier?" She asked, rather cheerily. Her teeth were gritted in pain, and she was still kind of cold, but she knew complaining would only mark her as an incompetent kid, and the idea repulsed her.