Heist Pt.2
(Word Count: 2226)
POV: Omaren
Date: June 367 Ac (3 years ago)
Location: City of A'anora, Occupied Ak'aaran territory, Northern Mahador.
As i was on my way to the herbalist's store, i found the city's main streets filled with lots of people. Most of them were going to, or coming from the port and the market nearby, just like every monday, since that's the only day when boats are allowed to anchor at port since the invasion. But these people weren't the only ones in the streets and while i wasn't surprised to see them, i did not expect the foreign soldiers to be so numerous. They were on every major streets, strolling around and watching people and dressed in light armour that was a mix of metal plates and tough leather. Naturaly, that left them hot and sweaty. It almost made me crack a smile as i passed one of them tugging at his colar, likely complaning about the heat to his coleague. Clearly, they weren't used to the Mahadorian sun. Maybe they should just go back home and leave us alone then. I decided to avoid them and instead took the smaller adjacent streets. I hated them so much, for what they did to my family, my village, and this city, and so the less i saw of them, the better, else i might do something stupid. When he took me in, Mr. Jakun told me that these soldiers came to the city from a place called Arba, a small island in Arros, the land across the sea to the north, aboard boats and airships just a few weeks before they attacked my village, which makes sense, given that my village is nestled in the hills further south and away from the coast. Since then, no one, especialy mages like me, have been allowed to enter or leave the city, either by land or sea, unless autorised to do so by them. Fortunatly for me, i came into the city right before they implemented this rule and closed the gates to us mages. Mr. Jakun says he thinks its to prevent us from leaving and joining the resistance army against them. I didn't know if it was true, but i was stuck there, until i could find a way out. Doing this job bought me some time to do so. * * * * * The building was a small, two stories tall house, nestled between two larger buildings on both sides. The herbal shop was located on the ground floor, while appartements seem to occupy the second floor. I watched from my impromptu hiding spot behind a nearby stone brick wall as smoke billowed from it's chimney, confirming that the man, or at least someone, was home. The door to the store suddenly opened and a bell rang out as a lady stepped outside. I briefly hid behind the wall before peeking out again. She walked down the steps from the porch in front of the buidling, and continued down the street, carrying a small bag in her hand. That's my chance, i thought. I had been looking at that building for the past 15 minutes, and that lady was the only person that entered and then left the store in that time, which made me fairly confident that the guy was indeed alone. I looked up and down the street and saw no one. It was deserted. I took a deep breathe and slipped on the mask jakun gave me. It was a bit tight, and hot, but better that than being captured and doing jail time, or worse. Getting up, i made my way towards the store, walking across the street with my hands in my pockets. I quickly climbed the three steps up and landed onto the porch. Its old wooden planks creaked under my feet as i walked towards the door. I took another deep breath, trying to calm myself down as i began to dread what i was about to do, before i finaly gathered myself and pushed the door open. The bell rang again above me as the door swung open. I was immediatly assaulted by the sweet smell of various aromatic plants that tickled my nose as i stepped inside. The store was rather dark as potted plants were stacked along wooden shelves in front of the store's small front windows, which blocked out most of the sun's light. A short man waved at me from behind the counter, itself covered in little shelves full of what seemed to be seed filled pouches and bag of dried, crushed leaves. For tea, i assumed? "Hello, young man'" The man said to me as i arrived in front of him. "What can i get for you today?" His apparent lack of reaction to my mask was unsettling and briefly made me unsure on how i wanted to proceed, or more accurately, if i wanted to proceed. The man seemed inoffensive enough as he looked at me and waited for my response with a timid smile. If he was scared, he was hiding it well. I put my hands down on the counter and looked directly at him. "Mr. Kata i'm here on behalf of Jakun Otaken, to collect the money from the outstanding debt that you owe him" The man's timid smile faded away almost immediatly. "I-i don't know what you mean, young man.", He said, shaking his head. "I do not know anyone who goes by that name... perhaps, you have the wrong person?" I knew i didn't Before i left earlier, Jakun described what the man looked like and this guy looked practicaly identical. Jakun even mentioned that he would probably opt to just deny them knowing each other. I wasn't fooled. "Sir, lying won't work, alright?" I said, plainly. "i know you're the right person. I also know how much you owe Jakun and for how long you've evaded his requests for payment." I let out a sigh before continuing. "Look, i'm not looking to cause you trouble, ok? I'm just here to get jakun's money and i'd like if you would cooperate. Once you give it to me, i'll be on my way" The man stayed silent for a moment before he then asked me a question i did not expect at all. "Why are you working for him?" He said. I quickly waved his question away. "That's... none of your buisiness, sir" I said. "I'm just doing him a favour" He chuckled at that. "Hell of a favour, being someone's debt collector..." He said sarcasticaly. I rolled my eyes behind my mask. "Sir, are you going to give the damn money, or not?" I was starting to feel irritated. "Who are you anyways?" He said and before i had a chance to respond, he then tried to grab my mask and rip it off. This startled me and unwittingly triggered my powers. A flame crackled in the palm of my hand just as i pushed the man away from me, which created a thin, but wide arc of fire between us. The man yelled and crouched down to evade the flames. I was a bit stunned myself by the sudden uncontroled display, and he used that moment of distraction to try and run away, towards a nearby door, which led gods only knew where. I ran beside the counter to try and cut him off, but he suddenly turned to me right as he reached the door, He now held a knife and was pointing it at me. "Stay back!" the man said, before trying the door handle. To my horror, it turned, and thinking he was about to run away again, i acted fast. Mana gathered once again within the palm of my hand, willingly this time, before a flame suddenly ignited again and quickly swelled into a ball of fire. I put my hand in front of me and a fireball flew across the small store. It quickly crossed the small distance between me and the door, briefly illuminating the counter bellow it and the rest of the area in an orange glow, before it crashed onto the half_opened door with enough force to cause it to slam back shut and rattle. The man let out a yelp and took a step back, putting a hand up to protect himself while still pointing the knife at me. I took a few steps towards him, but stayed on the other side of the counter. "The money", i said simply. "I'm not leaving without it" The man bit his lips as he looked back towards the door. Its wooden surface now had a large charred circle. Tiny red embers flickered in the middle, while wisps of smoke rose to the ceiling. The man turned to me. "i-i didn't know you were a firemage" He said. Hearing him say that made me a bit less worried about being seen by the soldiers outside. Apparently, my ears weren't pointed enough yet to out me as a mage, and the mask seemed to hide my red eyes. Mr. Jakun had said so himself before, but i didn't know if he was sincere or if he just wanted me to do the chores regardless of my worries. I crossed my arms as i looked down at the man. "Well, now you have another reason to do what i say." "Listen... i could help you!" I raised a brow behind my mask. "Help me?" I said, curious as to were he was going with this. "Yes! I could help you hide!" When i didn't say anything, he continued: "I know the soldiers from Arba are looking everywere for mages like you, and i bet Jakun promised to he would hide you and keep you safe from them as long as you do this kind of stuff for him, right?" I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, maybe. And?" "I could do the same, for free!" He said, adding the last part a bit after the first. "I have room upstairs. I have this whole house to myself after all..." I looked at him and briefly considered his offer. However, i had no reasons to trust him, and no reason to distrust Jakun. At least not yet. The choice was pretty obvious to me. "Yeah, no. Not interrested man. Sorry." I said, as my eyes then glanced down at the knife he was still holding and pointing towards me. I realised that it was made of bronze metal half-way during the previous exchange as i could feel it slowly absorb the mana i was exuding. "How about you drop the knife, now?" I said. But the man simply shook his head, and started thrusting it towards me in a stabbing motion. "Not until you leave my store, mage! I don't have your money!" "Drop it" i said, as the knife in his hand suddenly ignited in a bright flame, causing the man to drop it to the floor in shock. He hadn't been fast enough however as he also began to yell in pain as he looked at his burnt hand. I quickly jumped over the counter and grabbed it, making sure to heat up my hand just enough so that he could feel it, as a warning that i could burn him further. "I'm not fucking playing asshole! Where's the fucking money?" I yelled at him, irritated because of his brazen attitude and the fact that this whole thing was taking so long. "Ok, Ok! I give up!" He saids, clenching his eyes closed. "Its in there!" He then said, pointing at something behind us. It was a small box neatly placed on a shelve under the counter, and locked with a small padlock. "Open it" I said, reseasing his hand. He nodded nervously before pulling a small key from his pocket and crouching down to open it. His trembling hands made him fumble the key and drop it. He quickly picked it up again and this time managed to unlock the padlock, which opened with a small click. He removed the padlock and opened the top of the box, revealing it to be full to the brim with gold, silver and copper coins inside. "Didn't have the money, uh?" The man let out a nervous laugh as he carefuly started counting the coins. It took a few minutes, during which i kept glancing nervously at the front door, scared that someone could enter, but no one did. Once he was done, and i had confirmed the sum, he put it all in a bag and gave it to me. "Here! 34 duccats!" He said, gestering towards the bag, before he then stepped back and away from me. "And i'm not giving you any more! That's all i owe him!" I nodded, jumped over the counter and walked towards the front door. As i was about to leave, i turned towards the man one last time. He looked at me, a mix of worry and anger in his face as he held his hand close to his chest. I felt a pang of guilt as i saw the burns on his hand and wrist and looked away. I wanted to say something, maybe apoligize, but i didn't know how, and ended up simply leaving through the door. The bell rang behind me as i stepped outside. The job was done and now i just had to make it back in time.
Part 1: Part 3: Part 4:
Date: June 367 Ac (3 years ago)
Location: City of A'anora, Occupied Ak'aaran territory, Northern Mahador.
As i was on my way to the herbalist's store, i found the city's main streets filled with lots of people. Most of them were going to, or coming from the port and the market nearby, just like every monday, since that's the only day when boats are allowed to anchor at port since the invasion. But these people weren't the only ones in the streets and while i wasn't surprised to see them, i did not expect the foreign soldiers to be so numerous. They were on every major streets, strolling around and watching people and dressed in light armour that was a mix of metal plates and tough leather. Naturaly, that left them hot and sweaty. It almost made me crack a smile as i passed one of them tugging at his colar, likely complaning about the heat to his coleague. Clearly, they weren't used to the Mahadorian sun. Maybe they should just go back home and leave us alone then. I decided to avoid them and instead took the smaller adjacent streets. I hated them so much, for what they did to my family, my village, and this city, and so the less i saw of them, the better, else i might do something stupid. When he took me in, Mr. Jakun told me that these soldiers came to the city from a place called Arba, a small island in Arros, the land across the sea to the north, aboard boats and airships just a few weeks before they attacked my village, which makes sense, given that my village is nestled in the hills further south and away from the coast. Since then, no one, especialy mages like me, have been allowed to enter or leave the city, either by land or sea, unless autorised to do so by them. Fortunatly for me, i came into the city right before they implemented this rule and closed the gates to us mages. Mr. Jakun says he thinks its to prevent us from leaving and joining the resistance army against them. I didn't know if it was true, but i was stuck there, until i could find a way out. Doing this job bought me some time to do so. * * * * * The building was a small, two stories tall house, nestled between two larger buildings on both sides. The herbal shop was located on the ground floor, while appartements seem to occupy the second floor. I watched from my impromptu hiding spot behind a nearby stone brick wall as smoke billowed from it's chimney, confirming that the man, or at least someone, was home. The door to the store suddenly opened and a bell rang out as a lady stepped outside. I briefly hid behind the wall before peeking out again. She walked down the steps from the porch in front of the buidling, and continued down the street, carrying a small bag in her hand. That's my chance, i thought. I had been looking at that building for the past 15 minutes, and that lady was the only person that entered and then left the store in that time, which made me fairly confident that the guy was indeed alone. I looked up and down the street and saw no one. It was deserted. I took a deep breathe and slipped on the mask jakun gave me. It was a bit tight, and hot, but better that than being captured and doing jail time, or worse. Getting up, i made my way towards the store, walking across the street with my hands in my pockets. I quickly climbed the three steps up and landed onto the porch. Its old wooden planks creaked under my feet as i walked towards the door. I took another deep breath, trying to calm myself down as i began to dread what i was about to do, before i finaly gathered myself and pushed the door open. The bell rang again above me as the door swung open. I was immediatly assaulted by the sweet smell of various aromatic plants that tickled my nose as i stepped inside. The store was rather dark as potted plants were stacked along wooden shelves in front of the store's small front windows, which blocked out most of the sun's light. A short man waved at me from behind the counter, itself covered in little shelves full of what seemed to be seed filled pouches and bag of dried, crushed leaves. For tea, i assumed? "Hello, young man'" The man said to me as i arrived in front of him. "What can i get for you today?" His apparent lack of reaction to my mask was unsettling and briefly made me unsure on how i wanted to proceed, or more accurately, if i wanted to proceed. The man seemed inoffensive enough as he looked at me and waited for my response with a timid smile. If he was scared, he was hiding it well. I put my hands down on the counter and looked directly at him. "Mr. Kata i'm here on behalf of Jakun Otaken, to collect the money from the outstanding debt that you owe him" The man's timid smile faded away almost immediatly. "I-i don't know what you mean, young man.", He said, shaking his head. "I do not know anyone who goes by that name... perhaps, you have the wrong person?" I knew i didn't Before i left earlier, Jakun described what the man looked like and this guy looked practicaly identical. Jakun even mentioned that he would probably opt to just deny them knowing each other. I wasn't fooled. "Sir, lying won't work, alright?" I said, plainly. "i know you're the right person. I also know how much you owe Jakun and for how long you've evaded his requests for payment." I let out a sigh before continuing. "Look, i'm not looking to cause you trouble, ok? I'm just here to get jakun's money and i'd like if you would cooperate. Once you give it to me, i'll be on my way" The man stayed silent for a moment before he then asked me a question i did not expect at all. "Why are you working for him?" He said. I quickly waved his question away. "That's... none of your buisiness, sir" I said. "I'm just doing him a favour" He chuckled at that. "Hell of a favour, being someone's debt collector..." He said sarcasticaly. I rolled my eyes behind my mask. "Sir, are you going to give the damn money, or not?" I was starting to feel irritated. "Who are you anyways?" He said and before i had a chance to respond, he then tried to grab my mask and rip it off. This startled me and unwittingly triggered my powers. A flame crackled in the palm of my hand just as i pushed the man away from me, which created a thin, but wide arc of fire between us. The man yelled and crouched down to evade the flames. I was a bit stunned myself by the sudden uncontroled display, and he used that moment of distraction to try and run away, towards a nearby door, which led gods only knew where. I ran beside the counter to try and cut him off, but he suddenly turned to me right as he reached the door, He now held a knife and was pointing it at me. "Stay back!" the man said, before trying the door handle. To my horror, it turned, and thinking he was about to run away again, i acted fast. Mana gathered once again within the palm of my hand, willingly this time, before a flame suddenly ignited again and quickly swelled into a ball of fire. I put my hand in front of me and a fireball flew across the small store. It quickly crossed the small distance between me and the door, briefly illuminating the counter bellow it and the rest of the area in an orange glow, before it crashed onto the half_opened door with enough force to cause it to slam back shut and rattle. The man let out a yelp and took a step back, putting a hand up to protect himself while still pointing the knife at me. I took a few steps towards him, but stayed on the other side of the counter. "The money", i said simply. "I'm not leaving without it" The man bit his lips as he looked back towards the door. Its wooden surface now had a large charred circle. Tiny red embers flickered in the middle, while wisps of smoke rose to the ceiling. The man turned to me. "i-i didn't know you were a firemage" He said. Hearing him say that made me a bit less worried about being seen by the soldiers outside. Apparently, my ears weren't pointed enough yet to out me as a mage, and the mask seemed to hide my red eyes. Mr. Jakun had said so himself before, but i didn't know if he was sincere or if he just wanted me to do the chores regardless of my worries. I crossed my arms as i looked down at the man. "Well, now you have another reason to do what i say." "Listen... i could help you!" I raised a brow behind my mask. "Help me?" I said, curious as to were he was going with this. "Yes! I could help you hide!" When i didn't say anything, he continued: "I know the soldiers from Arba are looking everywere for mages like you, and i bet Jakun promised to he would hide you and keep you safe from them as long as you do this kind of stuff for him, right?" I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, maybe. And?" "I could do the same, for free!" He said, adding the last part a bit after the first. "I have room upstairs. I have this whole house to myself after all..." I looked at him and briefly considered his offer. However, i had no reasons to trust him, and no reason to distrust Jakun. At least not yet. The choice was pretty obvious to me. "Yeah, no. Not interrested man. Sorry." I said, as my eyes then glanced down at the knife he was still holding and pointing towards me. I realised that it was made of bronze metal half-way during the previous exchange as i could feel it slowly absorb the mana i was exuding. "How about you drop the knife, now?" I said. But the man simply shook his head, and started thrusting it towards me in a stabbing motion. "Not until you leave my store, mage! I don't have your money!" "Drop it" i said, as the knife in his hand suddenly ignited in a bright flame, causing the man to drop it to the floor in shock. He hadn't been fast enough however as he also began to yell in pain as he looked at his burnt hand. I quickly jumped over the counter and grabbed it, making sure to heat up my hand just enough so that he could feel it, as a warning that i could burn him further. "I'm not fucking playing asshole! Where's the fucking money?" I yelled at him, irritated because of his brazen attitude and the fact that this whole thing was taking so long. "Ok, Ok! I give up!" He saids, clenching his eyes closed. "Its in there!" He then said, pointing at something behind us. It was a small box neatly placed on a shelve under the counter, and locked with a small padlock. "Open it" I said, reseasing his hand. He nodded nervously before pulling a small key from his pocket and crouching down to open it. His trembling hands made him fumble the key and drop it. He quickly picked it up again and this time managed to unlock the padlock, which opened with a small click. He removed the padlock and opened the top of the box, revealing it to be full to the brim with gold, silver and copper coins inside. "Didn't have the money, uh?" The man let out a nervous laugh as he carefuly started counting the coins. It took a few minutes, during which i kept glancing nervously at the front door, scared that someone could enter, but no one did. Once he was done, and i had confirmed the sum, he put it all in a bag and gave it to me. "Here! 34 duccats!" He said, gestering towards the bag, before he then stepped back and away from me. "And i'm not giving you any more! That's all i owe him!" I nodded, jumped over the counter and walked towards the front door. As i was about to leave, i turned towards the man one last time. He looked at me, a mix of worry and anger in his face as he held his hand close to his chest. I felt a pang of guilt as i saw the burns on his hand and wrist and looked away. I wanted to say something, maybe apoligize, but i didn't know how, and ended up simply leaving through the door. The bell rang behind me as i stepped outside. The job was done and now i just had to make it back in time.
Part 1: Part 3: Part 4:
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