Private Queen of Beggars?

[Yusha]

MORNING - ALLEYWAY

The air was putrid.

Such was the reality of waking up in the alleys. Beneath the thief's ears was the babbling sound of flowing water - and with it came the smell. Sewage. Fresh from the pipes of the city's occupants. Yusha slowly pushed himself up off of the frigid pavement, shaking his head as if to dispel the stench. "Ugh." he said, wincing immediately as his muscles cried in protest. Why was he here? Though he did not own property within the city limits, he had many options to lay his head. The brothel's madam kept a room for him - so long as he kept the information flowing.

So why did he wake up in the gutter? Think.

His gloved hands massaged his temples for a moment as he attempted to recall. There was...a party of some sort. Yes. The Baron had thrown some loud shindig for one reason or another. The lowborn locals, such as himself, were not on the guest list of course. But that didn't stop the King of Beggars from inviting himself. So many nobles in one place? It was the perfect opportunity to line his pockets. An open and shut operation, truly. What...had gone wrong?

Kayin.

The thief's stomach sank. That's right. His sibling had insisted that she be able to follow him to the party. To learn the tricks of the trade. To become the Queen of Beggars as she so eloquently put it. But things went to shit fast. He remembered guards. Brawling so that she could get away. Pain in his head...and then nothing. He must have been pummeled and tossed in the alley to rot. Yusha spit. His tongue still tasted blood. Lovely.

"Gotta find her." He said through grit teeth. Mustering what strength he could, he staggered forth out of the alley and headed towards the market. If nothing else, he could find leads there.

He hoped she was in one piece.​

Kayin Verde​

 

[Kayin Verd]

She had practically BEGGED her brother for days to be allowed to come along. One reason after the other, even put on her best puppy eyes as a last resort in the end. And it worked! She had told Yusha that she'd like to show him that she had become really good at pick-pocketing, but that was an utter lie. And he fell for it.

But why had she put so much effort into coming this time? Usually Kayin was happy to stick to sneaking into secret parties where she'd find gambling tables to hustle. But she had started to become bored of it. It was fun when she was a kid and all, most people being utterly facinated by the talented girl at their table. Sometimes she'd be allowed to stay as pure entertainment and sometimes she would be thrown back outside.
She sort of felt like she wanted to try her hand at wealthier tables and when she happened to overhear Yusha talking about this party she desperately wanted in!

And it had all been good. She had even put on some half decent dress for the evening so that she wouldn't be caught immediately. Excitedly she had walked beside Yusha for a while, but eventually she had on purpose shook him off and disappeared into the crowd of people, aiming to find a gambling table, and at the same time slipping some coins from a pocket some that she'd have big money to bet.

It had been good for a few rounds until she was called out for being unpolished. The guards were soon at the scene and she immediately tried to dodge them, fleeing through the crowd who's attention were taken by the brawl that took place. Kayin was certain she was out of harms way when one of the guards grabbed her and punched her out.

Waking up with an severe headache in a cell. Great. Scrambling to her feet she quickly figured out that she wore chains. No big deal, she'd just get the pin from her bra and... uh. Yeah, no bra, it hadn't gone with the dress anyway.
Her hair, then. Rummaging through it she quickly found one and used it on this new piece of technology but was stopped by a voice advising her not to try anything dumb. Kayin stopped and looked around for a moment. This had to be one of the cells uptown as it seemed pretty modern and new. Oh, she was in trouble now for sure.

Yusha

 

[Yusha]

The light made his eyes water.

It was only when the thief rounded the corner and stepped into the market proper that he realized he had a black eye. As he squinted against the light, his face screamed in protest. Yusha swore under his breath and carried on regardless, spurned forward by a growing worry in his stomach. Kayin was young, but beyond that, she was the only family he had. Their father was barely in the picture, what with his mercenary lifestyle. And though Yusha knew of their mother's kin in name alone, they did not know they existed.

Suffice it to say, it was two against the world. And Yusha wasn't about to have it drop to just one.

As the thief stumbled forward, he kept his eyes to the corners of the stalls. To the nooks and crannies. To where the dregs of society could be seen begging for their daily bread. These were the King's "subjects" - for every time Yusha ate, he made sure they did too. His successes meant warmth in their bellies. And in turn, they paid tribute by means of information. One such subject was a drunkard who also looked fresh out the gutter. Yusha attempted to smile, but winced.

"Marco! You're a sight for sore eyes."

The man, who was previously rattling a tankard for donations, gave a smile that was lacking many teeth. "I 'ook betta than yew fo a change." Yusha let that slide and knelt beside Marco. "I had a...rough night."

"An the whol'town is talkin' bout it too. Baron caught imself a pretty lil thief, gonna make a example of er."

"Kayin. Feth."

"Gonna off 'er hands in ta square, dare us ta Feth wit em."

"Like hell he will. Any clue where she's being held?"

"Uptown, Marshal's got 'er fer sure."

Yusha bolted to his feet, ignoring how his muscles wept at every motion. "Thank you Marco, I owe you!" At once the King of Beggars took off in a sprint, pausing only to raise his hood in defiance of the nagging light.

***​

In due time, the captive Kayin would see a shadow move above the cell window. It grew larger and larger, eventually culminating with Yusha's hooded visage - albeit upside down. He had ascended onto the roofs of the city and navigated to the Marshal's cells. It was a good thing too, as the Baron was not the sort to change his mind about making an example. Yusha made eye contact with his sibling and raised a finger to his lips.

His dominant hand extended. His will was made manifest about the electronic shackles about her wrist. Quietly, they slacked and opened - and being as quick as she was, she could hide that fact well enough he was sure. All that there was to do now was...getting her out of the cell, and out of the building.

"I'm so kicking your ass after this.." he mumbled to himself.

Kayin Verde​

 

[Kayin Verd]

Kayin calmly put the shackles back down on command and leaned back against the wall and gave the guard a forced smile until he walked off. Urgh.. her head hurt and she was sure it was a combination of the guards punch and dehydration. Now sitting on the floors, the girl was tapping her feet in boredom while studying the walls surrounding her and listening to the footsteps outside as well as the distant chatter. "Stick to the familiar gambling tables, got it." she mumbled to herself and let time do it's job ticking by, waiting for something to happen. Surely it was just a slap on her wrist, she hadn't actually gotten around to stealing very much anyway.

She had decided she was going to try and catch some sleep when the rustling sound over her made her open her eyes to look up at the hooded figure. Oh, she knew who that was just by the movement. She subtly rolled her eyes. Surely she was happy he had found her and was going to get her out of this cell, but she hated the idea that she needed his help. Again. The shackles clicked open and she expertly made it look like they were still closed as ever when she inched her way up on her feet.

"I heard that." she mumbled back, irritated. "What took you so long? Stopping by your beloved brothel as usual, while I sit here bored out of my mind?" she silently hissed up at him. "How is Garnet by the way? Still talking about quitting?" Kayin continued in a silent but venomous tone.

Yusha

 

[Yusha]

As per the usual, Kayin was full of sass.

Normally, her antics were a source of amusement for the King of Beggars. It was a refreshing change from the knife-to-the-throat world of theft. Yusha typically had to be colder than he actually was. More callous. But with Kayin, going back and forth was how he could be himself. Yet, in this moment, she would find no such joy. For once, Yusha was as serious as the grave.

This is no time for jokes. he hissed back.

The Baron is planning to make an example of you. He wants to cut your hands off, very publicly, and let you bleed out for that stunt. As he spoke, the thief wasted no time in removing the bars from the window. It was arduous work, and he had to make sure the pieces did not clatter on the way down. Once clear, he motioned towards the cell door.

"Pick the door and let's get out of here!"

Kayin Verde​

 

[Kayin Verd]

Maybe Kayin had grown to be such a sassy young girl because she had picked up on the fact that when she threw her brother clever replies she could make him smile ever so subtly against his own will. And she liked that. So the fact that he wasn't giving her any snarky comebacks or smiling wrinkles around his eyes let her know he was grave serious and it stung her a little.
More so, she learned that this hadn't been a matter of charming her way out with a little sass and pretty smiles. She was to be made an example of and for a second she looked down at her hands like her biggest issue was loosing her pretty hands, not dying.

Puffing, she lifted her eyes to watch him pick apart the bars from her window like it was a routine job and it probably was, what did she even know. Kayin kept looking over her shoulder towards the door from time to time, listening in for footsteps outside it, but she couldn't hear anything. Only at his request did she near the door and started her part of the work, now gotten rid of the shackles from her wrist and for once during the last twentyfour hours, she was able to show him, without bragging that she could pick apart a modern lock in less than one minute or so. She was kind of proud of that and just had to check if she could see any trace of him being impressed but if he was, it was hard to tell in the dark.

"There. No hand-i-cap-ping today." she winked at him along with a smile, an habit she couldn't shake off.

Yusha

 

[Yusha]

There. No hand-i-cap-ping today.

With the door now breached, the cuffs removed, and only a window needing to be scaled, the King of Beggars afforded himself a small chuckle. Though the circumstances were the literal definition of dire, Kayin just had this way about her. She could make a stone smile if she so willed it. "Hardy har har, very funny." he said, offering a light smile. Then, Yusha reached into the window and helped her up and out. She'd find the rope waiting for her - a routine climb up just like he taught her.

And once she started to scale the building, he'd begin to move right behind her.

"Won't be long until they notice." he called, moving at a steady pace beneath her. "We'll need to stick to the roofs and head to the brothel." They could lay low there until the hunt blew over. Kayin, being a woman, could easily swap clothes and toss on a powdered wig to blend in. And Yusha hadn't been implicated in the Baron's ire. It was as good a plan as they had.

But, Yusha paused, shooting a half-bemused smirk up at her.

"I swear, one word about me being a customer and I'm cutting your rope."

She'd be handicapped for damn sure then.

Kayin Verde​

 

[Kayin Verd]

With a little effort, Kayin got a firm hold of his hand and put her feet against the wall, making it easier to climb up and get out of the cell. Once out, she dusted herself off with her hands and gave a little chuckle once she spotted his smile. Hah, he smiled, which meant he couldn't be furious at her for getting caught. Turning at his gesture she quickly spotted the rope and started the climb with relative ease. Kayin wasn't especially strong but with the technique Yusha had taught her she had no problem in climbing up to the roof.

Kayin faced her brother as he climbed over the edge or the roof, collecting the rope. Her expression revealed that she had a comment prepared for him but worked hard to not say it. Not quite yet. "Alright, let's see.." with her hands to her hips, she looked over the many roofs and ledges ahead and made out where the brothel must be. It would be a fun run, and she would like the extra adrenaline. She positioned herself so that she would have a good run towards her first leap and grinned at him. "Hey, think you can beat me to the brothel? Zack told me you're having problems with the landings lately." She challenged him with an raised eyebrow and a wicked smile.

"Oh, aaand customers usually pay for their visits to the brothel!" She laughed and took off running, making her first leap to the next roof smoothly with a perfect roll that made it easy to get back on her feet and continue her run across the roof. Here she grabbed a pole to gain momentum to make another jump to the next balcony which she knew belonged to an abandoned top floor that she swiftly ran across to the other side, climbing the stairs to get back onto the roof and making another jump.