A dark side alley next a stone cliff in the middle of the city, two figures in cloaks staring upward, where the upper class of the city had their secure and sheltered mansions. But this security would be violated tonight, by these two shadows. Purple Paw could see that his apprentice was in an especially eager mood today, by the way she kept clicking her claws together, curled in her toes that where poking out of her leather wrappings and kept curving and straightening her short tail. Up there at the top of the cliff was the estate they were supposed to infiltrate under the cover of the night, in order to acquire evidence against a guild-representative on the city's council. The climb would be around a hundred feet, not all of which would be along the natural stone cliff. The last twenty or so feet would be a smooth limestone wall topped with fence spikes.
Purple Paw looked at his apprentice, expecting her initiative. She took a while to free her eyes from the long way up, when she finally did, her expression told him that she had no idea what he wanted.
"Well, I said you'd have to memorize the plan!" He reminded her.
"OH, OH! Yes!" She looked up again, then down. She tried to remember. "The glue!"
Purple Paw nodded. "And then!? The whole plan!"
The apprentice thought for a while longer. "Up the wall with the glue, secure the rope, wait for you. Up through the window, also with the glue, climb into the storage chamber, secure rope again, up to the study, search the study, find the evidence, get back out, down the rope, down the other rope, meet at the place, hand over evidence, get paid."
Purple Paw nodded with satisfaction. "And what do we do with the plan?"
"We stick to it!" Her eyes were determined. It was her first mission and she showed promise.
"Excellent. Let's go."
They took off their cloaks and left them in the bushes, then they put on their masks. Purple Paw produced a bottle with a thick green liquid from his bag while his apprentice got her bow out. She tied one end of the rope around the arrow, then added the liquid to the head and then she tied the other end of the rope around her ankle. She aimed for a moment and shot. The arrow hit with a soft SMUDSH and the glue kept it stuck to the upper part of the limestone wall. The apprentice quickly got to climbing. She wouldn't have much time before the glue would turn completely hard and started to crumble.
The crolachan climbed up faster than some people walked over even ground. Determination and confidence spoke from her movements and she arrived at the drying glob of glue. She now had to bridge the gap to the top of the wall. She stemmed her legs against the limestone blocks, bent her knees and, with a mighty push, propelled herself upwards.
CRACK
The glob of glue came loose from the wall and rained bits of dried glue and limestone shards down. Purple Paw shielded his eyes. When he looked back up, his apprentice was still up there, on the foothold that the tiny ledge of natural rock at the wall's base provided. With her hands she clung to the wall, with her feet to the natural rock, pushing her claws into the narrowest of gaps. It didn't look very secure for any moment longer than necessary. She looked down to him. He tried signalling her that she should throw him the bow so he could shoot a new rope. She didn't pay him any heed and instead carefully squatted down, keeping her body as close to the wall as possible. Purple Paw tried to figure what it was she wanted to do. Did she want to jump all the way up the wall from this unsecure squatting position? She couldn't jump twenty feet!
She went down one more inch, then she propelled herself upwards.
With the sound of scraping claws on stone she almost crawled up the wall, sustaining her momentum with the slightest hold the claws on her hands and feet found on the wall. She arrived at the top and grabbed onto the ledge, pulled herself up and swung a leg over the wall, carefully avoiding the wall spikes. She untied the end of the rope from her ankle and tied it to one of the spikes. Then she waved to Purple Paw to give the all clear.
His apprentice was already over the wall when he arrived. She had run towards the mansion and pressed herself to a wall to avoid detection. Purple Paw threw the rope to the other side so they could still get back up and ran to her. He couldn't see any guards, but he wasn't willing to wait for one.
"That was pretty good." he said after arriving by her side.
"Thanks. I learned from squirrels and cats."
"And what do we do now?"
She got a small mirror out of the pocket of her leather vest and used it to look around the corner. After a bit of looking, she said "We should be able to get in through the top window at the very end of that wall."
Like a teacher during a test, he asked her "And how do you know that?"
"Because the servants always leave that open in the evening."
Purple Paw nodded with satisfaction. The two of them started to run along the wall.
After they arrived, they did the same trick with the glue and the rope and the arrow again, shooting the arrow above the window and just stepping inside from there. First the apprentice, then Purple Paw. The window led into a small side room primarily used by servants as storage for cleaning utensils. The girl checked the hallway when Purple Paw put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll take it from here!" He said. She slouched her shoulders in disappointment and wanted to protest for a moment, but then she relaxed and let it got with a nod.
Purple Paw took his small square notebook bound in leather from his hips. He flipped through all the different spell formula he had written down beforehand, then ripped out six and stuck them securely under his belt. An Invisible Fist, a Door Seal, two Constrictors, an Arcane Lens and a Metal Storm. Then he took two more, both Silent Steps, and held the first in front of his eyes while looking at his apprentice. He concentrated on that SNAP in his mind. The ink of the spell formula ignited and a flame swallowed the piece of paper. Then he did the same with himself. He got to the door and beckoned his apprentice to follow him.
They sprinted down the hallway, to the stairs, up into the third floor, their footsteps silenced by the spell. The hallway was clear. They had a few breaths left on the spell. They hurried along to the second door, the one which they deduced to be the target's study. The spell had run out by the time they arrived. Purple Paw knelt by the door knob and looked at his apprentice. She was ready. He drew his lock picks. Were they not in such a hurry, he would let her do it.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
The lock did not put up much of a fight and shortly after, the two burst inside. The room was empty. Quickly they got to sealing the door from the inside. The room was large, even for the luxurious manor. Two sofas around a coffee table to the left of the door formed a sort of business-talking corner, to the right stood a desk carved from burl wood and behind it a comfortable looking chair, the walls had many cabinets and book cases filled with case folders and reference books. The two of them started searching the room. Their contact had assured them that the object they were looking for was somewhere in this room. Purple Paw had finished looking through one of the cabinets when he heard steps outside the door. Both of them stopped for a moment before drawing their knives and looking at the door in anticipation. The steps passed by. They sighed in relief and got back to searching.
Finally, when Purple Paw had already gone through all the cabinets, his apprentice waved to get his attention. She was standing in front of a bust of some noble that made himself distinguished to the city a few decades back. The bust was facing slightly to the wall, no way for a bust to be arranged in such a room. Purple Paw drew the Arcane Lens and cast it. The bust was booby-trapped, even if just with a very simple spell that seemed to have a heat and a sound component. The spell would probably severely burn a careless thief's hands and wake up everyone in the vicinity. Purple Paw figured out a simple counter that should work. He cleared his mind and did the necessary calculations, then he let his improvised contraption loose on the bust. It started to vibrate as the tensed up power inside sought another outlet without actually causing the spell's intended effect. The bust was not content with just vibrating, starting instead to rattle and skip with angry CLANK and TWAENG. Finally, it came to a standstill.
When his apprentice tried to pick it up, she immediately retracted her hand. The bust was uncomfortably hot. She carefully held it with the palms of her hands covered by her fingerless gloves.
The bottom had a small handle. Turning it a few degrees allowed them to take out the centre of the underside, revealing a hollow space inside. From there the apprentice pulled forth a very long and tightly rolled scroll. Purple Paw unrolled it. Various accounts of trades and transactions their client had suspected. He quickly rolled the scroll back up and tucked it under his belt when his apprentice tried to peek in.
"Is it what we were looking for? Can I see?"
"Just business dealings he shouldn't have, let's go." He put the bust back as it was.
"But what is it? I want to see, too!"
"No need for you to see, it's according to contract and enough to incriminate him."
His apprentice wanted to start another attempt, but he shot her down with a glare, then walked back to the door.
"Ready?"
His apprentice nodded, then Purple Paw opened the door.
The apprentice burst outside of the room onto the hallway and saw herself confronted with a surprised maid. Both made a sudden sound. Purple Paw barely had time to recognize the uniform before he pulled one of the Constrictors from his belt. He tensed his mind and SNAP. A flame swallowed the paper, and half a moment before the maid could call for help, her entire body seized up. Now, they had around a minute to get out. They carried her into the study and Purple Paw applied the door seal. Then they got back to hurrying down the hallway, making sure to not run to avoid any unnecessary noise. The second floor seemed clear. Quickly they got back to the storage room, rappelled down the mansion wall and back towards where they had left the rope. It was still there, but as they came closer, two guards patrolled around the corner, lanterns dousing the surroundings on bright white light, Paw and his apprentice included. The guards didn't need to look at the intruders and the rope twice before yelling an alarm.
The apprentice was quick to throw two knives, both of which were blocked by the guards' armour. Purple Paw's hand reached for his belt. He pulled out the Invisible Fist, held the piece of paper into his line of sight to the first guard and cast the spell.
PAENG
The guard's metal chest plate dented inward, a sudden jolt flung him backwards onto his back. Purple Paw used the second Constrictor on the other guard.
Bells were heard, the alarm was rung across the mansion. Soon both private and city guards would be swarming here. The two intruders got to the rope over the wall before the guard could recover from the Invisible Fist. Purple Paw took his notebook and threw it to his apprentice. "CATCH! GET ON THE WALL FIND ME TWO FEATHER FALLS!" She took the lead up the rope and sat on top of the wall, a leg to each side frantically flipping through the notes while Purple Paw drew his dagger with the crystal pommel. The girl was still flipping when the first guard had arrived and swung his halberd at Purple Paw. He dodged to the side and saw the other guards approaching behind his opponents.
"Are you even looking?" He yelled to the girl.
"I can't find a second Feather Fall!"
The guard swung another time. A quick step, Purple Paw got closer, behind the head of his opponent's halberd. He stepped on the shaft, wresting the weapon from his opponent's arm and readied his dagger for a thrust under his armour plates. The guard had already reached for his short sword. It cut through the air and landed between prong and blade of Purple Paw's dagger. A twist of the defender's wrist and the guard lost hold of his sword. Purple Paw sent his foot to the guard's face and knocked him down.
"TAFF!" Purple Paw cursed and hurried to the rope. A guard had already started shooting arrows their way. He dodged an arrow, half stumbling. Another group of three guards came their way.
"FEATHER FALL! NOW!"
"I only got one here!"
"SHOW ME!"
The apprentice held the Feather Fall at arm's length, with formula facing Paw. Despite arrows flying, he took the time to cast the spell off the paper, and immediately prepare an Invisible Fist of strong intensity in his mind.
"WHAT?" was her only reaction as the paper went up in flames.
"Stick to the plan!" He yelled at her, then tossed her the paper scroll, which she caught with another "WHAT?" and a "WHY?" as well. The Invisible Fist followed immediately after.
With a gentle shove, the apprentice lost her balance and fell off the wall backwards and Paw turned around just in time to block another strike and bind the attacker's weapon with his dagger. He'd have to keep them off her back for a while.
The apprentice meanwhile realized that she was falling at a rather comfortable speed. The fist that should have pulverized her bones was weakened by the magic amulet hanging from her neck. The apprentice arrived safely on the ground. She looked up to the rope. Her Teacher still wasn't coming over the wall. She waited for another heartbeat. Her hands started to get sweaty. Stick to the plan, she thought. Another heartbeat. She heard people coming around the corner in a hurry. Another heartbeat. Still nothing from up top. She picked up both their cloaks and Purple Paw's palm book, then she ran down the streets. Stick to the plan. Meet at the place. Hand over the evidence. Get paid.