Heirot

Micah glanced back at Mizuki as she approached. The assassin seemed well aware of her already, and had brought out a knife under his coat, ready to impale her when she came at him. Her arrival was an interesting development, but Micah had the distinct impression that she didn't realize what kind of opponent she was up against. This guy had taken him by surprise in his own home and utterly bested him in close-hand combat. He stuck out his foot to trip Mizuki before she could rush into the man's waiting knife.

Unlike what those she was barreling after would believe, Mizuki was in fact being a bit smarter than that. She narrowly avoided Micha's foot, not giving herself time to glare at him, and skirted around the assassin holding Rai. She reached for the child, wanting to just pull her out of harm's way, bluffing the man into thinking she was going to attack him.

She was so close Rai as she reached...

Unlike most children, who would have screamed and cried the whole time he was pushing the knife in and pulling the knife out, she did nothing. She just stared at him in utter shock before looking down at her nice wound in the side. It immediatly began to make a red stain on the front of her white nightgown that looked very much like a giant rose.

After holding her breath for a long moment she let out a soft, "Oww..."

When the man held her in his arms and put his bloody knife to her throat she winced and held her eyes closed very tight, even as the assassin carried her outside.

She only opened them when she heard her mommy's voice. "Mommy!!!" She struggled at first, but her side hurt and it made her stop suddenly.

She looked down and saw blood dripping on to the ground off her toes, the blood having trickled down her leg. The stain on the front of her nightgown was growing slowly.

The assassin had to move the knife away from Rai's throat in order to prepare to block Mizuki's attack. his other arm, however, still gripped the child firmly in front of him.

Rai had been yanked out of Mizuki's reach. Blood splattered on the ground. 'Rai had been hurt...' Gritting her teeth, Mizuki stood her ground away from the assassin after having jumped back.

"Let her go." she demanded icily, gripping her own dagger so hard her knuckles became white. She wished Soran were here, he'd know how to better handle this. Mizuki was in danger of having Rai harmed more throughly, if Soran were here... Gods, she really had made a mess of things.

The assassin glared at Mizuki, a bit more wary now that she was clearly giving thought to her approach, but he had no reason to feel she had the upper hand. Managing two hostages at once would be hard, but she and Micah did not appear to be allies, and that made things much easier. "Move, and I slice her neck," he said flatly, returning the knife to Rai's throat.

"Sergeant Fray," came a solid voice from behind Mizuki, calm footsteps walking firmly toward them. "What is the meaning of this? You were expected to retrieve lord Micah some time ago." Sid's face caught the dim glow of a sconce that was lighting the street.

"Liutenant Borden, Sir," the assassin responded in surprise, making a respectful nod and seeming conflicted that he couldn't raise his hand in salute. "I was on my way, but some...other matters came up." He glanced at Mizuki and Micah.

"There is no room for error in this mission. You should know that," Sid lectured coldly, and stepped past Mizuki to stand next to "Fray". "Get them all to outpost C, and keep them there unharmed," he ordered.

"All of them? Sir, this woman is just a nuisan-"

"My reports have indicated she has intelligence we can use. Your meeting her was a fortunate coincidence. Harm them no further until you receive my direct instructions. Now go." He looked at Mizuki firmly, his eyes flashing with some hidden meaning. "All of you."

Mizuki frowned. That voice was familiar... Oh gods! In a state of shock Mizuki finally realized it was Sid who she ad past, and Sid who had addressed this man and gave him orders. Meaning...

"Sid, you rotten liar..." she whispered in disbelief under her breath. Her grasp on her dagger slipped in the shock and it fell to the ground. She paid no heed to it, after dropping it, it was forfeit. 'The bastard...' Soran was right not to trust him all along, Mizuki had given him the benefit of the doubt and Rai... welcomed him with open arms. Gritting her teeth against the pain her child must be experiencing, Mizuki took a step forward, locking her angry gaze with Sid's.

"Give me my child." she demanded flatly. She gave no inclination of running off... it was pointless anyway.

Rai was confused, and the pain was so bad that she couldn't quite remember what her friend's name was. So she just kept quiet, feeling rather tired.

"You may return this woman's child at the outpost," Sid ordered Fray, as if the demand had come from his subordinate and not from Mizuki directly. His eyes were still locked on hers, but they revealed little.

"Sir, do you two..know each other?" asked Fray, confused.

"Not in the least. Now go, this quadrant has five minutes remaining."

"Yes Lieutenant," the man said quickly and gestured for Mizuki and Micah to get moving. "Don't even think of retrieving that knife," he said to Mizuki and they moved past and Sid turned away in another direction.

* * *

"Everyone out!" Soran gasped, slamming open the door to yet another tavern. He was sweating, disheveled and thoroughly out of breath. THe room fell to a hush and stared at him in confusion."

"What the hell you on about, Soran?" asked the bartender in respectful confusion.

"The city's burning. Get your families and anyone you find on the way, and get out."

"You're joking right?" A few nervous laughs filled the room.

"I said NOW!" Soran ordered, slamming his fist sideways into the doorframe hard enough to rock the chandeliers.

The patrons looked at each other nervously and began uncertainly standing up, moving toward the door.

"I mean RUN, damn it!" Soran spun around and ran back out to the next establishment two blocks away. There was no time to convince them; a fierce warning was the best he could do. Smoke was rising over the other side of the city, the night so dark that it looked more like a cloud. There was no smell; they'd begun with the upwind side of the city, as he knew they would. No one would sense the danger until it reached them. Thousands would die trapped in their homes, asleep through the whole thing. They were a lost cause; the night owls and bar rats were the most Soran could hope to rally to his cause in so short a time. Damn it, where was Sid? Saving lives took priority over taking one, but if Sid was playing the role he thought he was in this scheme, it would be difficult to get at him later. His anger burned worse than his breathless lungs as he slammed open another tavern door. "OUT!!!"

"I wouldn't dream of it." she said bitterly and followed behind the assassin stiffly. She concentrated her thoughts on Rai, no longer giving her fierce attention to Sid. He could rot in the Hells for all she cared. She tried hard as they marched to give Rai a calmed aura, so she wouldn't feel all the pain, and maybe even fall asleep, if Mizuki could manage it.

Rai was so sleepy, but didn't want to fall a sleep. She was afraid she wouldn't wake up. She tried hard to stay awake, trying to think of something that would keep her awake.

When they were out of sight and Sid was alone on the street, he pulled a smooth marble stone hung on a black cord from his pocket and passed his hand over it lightly. A red light shimmered from it, and he held it to his mouth. "General. Sid Borden reporting, all preparations are complete. Some civilian resistance is detected, recommended to disband outpost C and focus forces at B and D."

"Good work, Lieutenant. We will do so and move in," a voice reported from the air around the stone, connected there by magic.

"Excellent, General," he responded respectfully and cut off the magical link. He put the stone back and shook his head. There would be no reinforcements at outpost C when Mizuki and the others got there. He had to bet that they'd be able to get rid of Fray on their own power. God, this was a nightmare. He clenches his fests tensely and began running deeper into the city. Damn it, where was Soran?

Mizuki hummed a little tune in her head, having sensed Rai's fear of sleeping. The comforting tune drifted through Mizuki's small link with Rai and it's melody hummed softly in her ears. She wanted to calm Rai down, but she couldn't hold her yet. She tried to keep her panic in check, if she let it overcome her, Rai would panic also.

There was no way out of this setback alive, that much Mizuki knew. She could only hope that somehow, later, they could get free. Then she remembered it. She could tell Soran exactly what was going on. And the man was taking them somewhere.... that information could be very vaulable to Soran. Except, concentrating on calming Rai and then attempting to contact Soran would be tricky. A very hard task on her own, especially being so inexperienced. Gwendolyn never really had a chance to teach her...

Grimacing, Mizuki hoped that once they reached this outpost she could have Rai's wound tended to, have her at peace, and then contact Soran.

Rai blinked tiredly, and glanced around. "Mommy...." she whispered as her eyes drifted closed slowly. She began to fall forward in he man's arms slightly as she grew more and more tired.... and soon was almost completely asleep.

Micah glanced sideways at Mizuki as they walked. His movement was stiff and awkward - the best cover he could think of for how severely his wounds were hurting him. "Why did you do this?" he whispered hoarsely. "I had things as close to under control as they're going to get. Now you've added yourself to the hostages." He was irritated; he didn't understand what was going on and he wasn't in control - two things he was not at all used to. He wanted to save the kid, he saw no point in letting her get killed, and it had no chance of improving things anyway. But now there were three of them against someone who clearly did this as a profession.