Gone Awry [Open]

[PyroBlaze]

Xan eventually started searching the house while he waited. He couldn't find anything he wanted to take though. Until he searched the bedroom of the house, that is. In there, he found the item he had been contracted to steal. The fact that the client already had the item only cemented the idea that he had been betrayed. He took the item and walked back into the living room to await the client's return.

It didn't take long after that for the stallion to return home. By the sound of the hoofsteps, he had brought two others with him. Xan hid himself and waited for them to enter. He watched them from his spot, waiting until they had passed before moving. He silently approached the rear stallion, and knocked him out. Then he did the same to the other bodyguard before approaching the client.

"So, you've betrayed me, and then you hire bodyguards. I'm starting to think you never wanted my services, especially since I found this." Xan said, causing the stallion to jump and turn towards him.

"It's... It's nothing personal. I do that to all the thieves I come across, it's a sort of agreement I have with the guards." The stallion said, obviously afraid.

Xan threw a knife, which stuck in the floor right in front of the stallion. "Go on, make my day." Xan said, drawing another knife.

[DerpRavener]

'Spring Breeze' crouched low behind a bush. Her prey was just ahead, a small furry shape moving hesitantly out road. She prepared to leap...

Moments earlier, while walking along she'd spotted the missing pet (a small, brown cat) and in the absence of any other non-nebulous goals she would try to retrieve it. She'd followed it down a couple streets now, moving away from the more active areas of town and into quieter parts. She never would have expected to use her combat training this way, but a changeling had to be adaptable. Doubly so for one in her position.

A sudden 'thunk' of an object embedding itself in the floor, came from one of the nearby houses and threw off her concentration. The cat darted off at the noise, but now 'Spring Breeze' ignored it as her own curiosity was piqued. She crept closer to the house, hoping to catch some conversation though not wanting to make it too obvious that she was listening.

[PyroBlaze]

"You... You're a thief! You deserved what you got! I don't regret betraying you at all!" The stallion cried at Xan before trying to pull the knife out of the floor. It seemed he was regaining his courage, though his attempts to get the knife out looked like he was trying to hide them.

"I don't care what you think I deserved, I only care that you betrayed me. Nopony does that and gets away unharmed, and I do mean nopony." Xan said, throwing the knife he was holding, which nicked the stallion's ear and buried itself in the wall behind the stallion. "Don't think you're being sneaky, I can see you trying to get that knife out. You might want to hurry though, my aim is improving." Xan said, pulling out a third knife. That last part was a lie, his aim had been dead on the entire time, and he had hit only what he had meant to. His lie seemed to produce the desired effect though, as the stallion looked panicked.

The stallion finally managed to get the knife out of the floor, and stood with it in one hoof for a moment, as if he didn't know what to do next. That didn't last long though, as the stallion charged at Xan, knife raised to strike. When he reached Xan, Xan stepped to the side and tripped the stallion, sending him sprawling onto the floor.

"C'mon, at least make this fun for me. Don't you know how to fight properly?" Xan said, looking down at the stallion. "Get up, I'm not done with you."

[DerpRavener]

“...You're a thief! You deserved what you got! I don't regret betraying you at all!”

Well it wasn't quite what 'Spring Breeze' was expecting to hear, but listening to that one sentence clarified the situation as much as she needed it to. The house apparently contained a group of thieves, who were having some sort of dispute. Frankly, to her that sounded like a problem that would take care of itself, and thus something she didn't need to get involved in. There was little for her to gain from it. She turned to leave.

The second voice to speak was Xan's, understandably cross at the owner of the first voice, and 'Spring Breeze' paused for a moment. It didn't really change anything though. He was at most an acquaintance, and even then she stood by what she said about his business being his own. If he was having a dispute with his associates, from the sounds of things inside he could handle himself and it had nothing to do with her anyhow.

Certain in her choice, 'Spring Breeze' made it two steps away from the building before stepping on a twig with an audible snap. She hissed under her breath, frustrated at herself for the mistake, and turned back towards the house to be ready for a response.

[PyroBlaze]

Xan shook his head as he walked towards the stallion, who was now struggling to get up. Xan kicked out the stallion's legs, making him fall back onto the floor. It seemed this stallion had no idea how to fight. This was too easy. Xan kicked the stallion's stomach, making him curl up on the ground. The next kick connected with the stallion's head, causing a groan to escape from the stallion. If this stallion wasn't going to fight, he may as well be brutalized for his betrayal.

At the sound of a twig snapping outside, Xan's head whipped towards the sound. There was somepony else out there. He would deal with them as soon as he finished with this stallion, who had started to get up again. Xan delivered a swift blow to the stallion, knocking him out cold. Xan walked to a window, after retrieving both of the knives he had thrown, and peeked out, growling at what he saw. 'Spring' had broken the twig. How much had she heard? Not that that really mattered, she already knew of his occupation, and seemed like she could care less about it.

Xan walked out the door after making sure nopony else was nearby. He approached the changeling. "Well hello Spring. What are you doing?" Xan asked, stopping a bit away from the changeling.

[DerpRavener]

Truth be told, the false pegasus was a little surprised that her blunder hadn't provoked more hostility. Xan seemed cautious (though when didn't he?) but didn't harbor any aggression toward her, even at the moment. 'Spring Breeze' idly wondered if he was curious about her as well, as she forced herself into a relaxed stance in an attempt to appear non-threatening.

She shot him a wry smile and gave a reply to the black pegasus' question. “I'm just doing what I do most days, and happened to be in to be in the area. It's funny, I was thinking of asking you the same question. I figured you'd be out of town by now. Still, I think I heard only what I needed to: sounds like you're having...” 'Spring Breeze' wiggled a hoof around as she searched for the word, “...an 'inter-organization dispute'.”

“I stand by what I said previously, it's none of my business as long as it's nothing too big. Particularly if you keep things within your own group. That said, I am kinda curious what you plan to do with them.” She looked past Xan, barely spotting the forms of a few unconscious ponies behind him. A part of her actually thought it might be safer not to know, but she didn't want any nasty surprises if the end result were to provoke a guard response.

[PyroBlaze]

'Spring' seemed surprised by how calm he was about her appearance. He didn't feel angry towards her, just wary of what she would do with whatever she had heard of the conversation with that stallion. She went into a relaxed stance, and Xan simply stood where he was. He was always ready to act should the need arise, and this was no exception.

He watched her as she spoke, saying she was nearby by chance. Hopefully she was actually telling the truth about that, and not following him around. She mentioned asking the same question to him, then talked about hearing enough of his conversation. Her idea of what was going on almost made him laugh out loud. He contained it to quiet chuckles and a smile. She had no idea what had happened, and that was a good thing, he supposed.

He kept listening to her speak, saying it wasn't her business as long as it didn't get too big. Then she once again mentioned his group, which didn't exist. She then basically questioned him about what he planned to do with the ponies in the house. He looked back at the unconscious forms that were visible at the same time 'Spring' peeked around him, likely seeing the same ponies as him laying around. He honestly wasn't sure what he was going to do now. Beating the stallion wouldn't be quite as fun now that he was unconscious, and Xan didn't want to kill the traitor. Every thief caught in the trap was one less to contend with, which meant more jobs would be available for him.

"At this point, probably nothing. It's no fun when they're unconscious." Xan said, turning back towards the changeling. "I want to do more, but there is no point in that when he's like this."

[DerpRavener]

Xan seemed amused when she referred to him and the ponies unconscious in the house as a group. Alright, so maybe 'Spring Breeze' was jumping to conclusions a little by assuming they were an actual organization, but that detail seemed irrelevant to her. Use of the term 'betrayal' implied that they at least had some sort of agreement, and the other party violated it. Either way, business would be concluded with the unconscious ponies dealt with.

Then he said that he probably wouldn't do anything to the unconscious ponies on the basis that 'there wouldn't be any point'. 'Spring Breeze' frowned at this. Most of the things she would find useful in such a situation would be easier to do to unconscious ponies, if anything. That meant an interrogation, unless Xan simply had a sadistic streak. The first seemed unnecessary in the circumstances, which left the second which 'Spring Breeze' found...wasteful, to say the least.

Still, for the time being it worked out in her favour. With the ponies merely unconscious, and likely unable to go to the guard when they do wake up as that would risk revealing their own involvement in the whole thing, 'Spring Breeze' probably wouldn't find any surprises waiting for her in the near future. Or none caused by Xan, at any rate.

'Sping Breeze' let out a little sigh of relief before asking, “So what do you think you'll do next?”

[PyroBlaze]

Xan looked around, watching for any approaching ponies. When he looked back to 'Spring', she was frowning. She obviously didn't like something he had said, not that he really cared. He watched her until she sighed in relief. She must have been worried about guard response to what had happened in the house. She must think that those ponies couldn't go to the guard without getting in trouble. That stallion was actually on friendly terms with the guard, or Xan assumed he was, due to his deal with them.

Then she asked what he would do next. He should probably move on, find another job in another town. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do though. "I suppose it's about time for me to move on." Xan said, looking around again. He couldn't use the train, since the guard was likely on the lookout for him. That meant he would have to travel by foot, or wing, whichever he felt like at the time.

Now he just needed to figure out where he was going next. He supposed he could head to Canterlot. It wasn't too far away. He wasn't sure he would be able to find his kind of work in that city, but it'll be a good spot to rest. He might find work there, he had before.

[DerpRavener]

“I suppose it's time to move on,” Xan said after a moment. He seemed a little lost in thought.

'Spring Breeze' was glad to hear it, though she tried not to make it too obvious. Xan seemed...like a liability she supposed. While he seemed like somepony who could be relied on, either to not do anything stupid or to accomplish whatever one might hire him for, his presence was a little problematic. He didn't seem like the type to spend time on frivolous things like vacation, and thus him sticking around would me he had some business Ponyville.

“I can't imagine there's a lot for you here, so that would probably make sense.” She said at last, after regarding him for a moment. She contemplating following Xan, to make sure he'd actually left, but decided against it. It seemed unnecessary, given the pony involved, though she might still keep in the area as a precaution. “I guess that's it then. Goodbye Xan.” She would have wished him luck, but if anything he might be insulted by the idea that he'd at all need it. With that, 'Spring Breeze' turned around and started heading back toward the more populated streets.

[Alright, unless you've got a particular direction in mind, I propose we end this one here, as this seems like good end point and I'm gonna need some time to come up with more concrete thread ideas/directions.]

[PyroBlaze]

(Ok. This seems like a good place to stop.)

Xan looked at 'Spring', and she seemed happy he was leaving. It made a certain amount of sense. With how she lived her life, anything that stirred up the guards could be bad for her. Then she spoke, saying that he probably didn't have much here for him. That was true, but it was also true for everywhere he went. Generally, the most interactions he undertakes is when he turns in the contract. That was fine with him though, he liked being alone, it gave him freedom to do what he wanted.

She seemed to be contemplating something, though he wasn't sure what. Regardless, she said goodbye, and Xan couldn't help but reveal his knowledge of her.

"Goodbye, changeling." Xan said to her retreating form. He didn't know if she could hear him, but it didn't matter. He turned towards Canterlot and took to the sky, flying towards the city.

(Until next time, I suppose.)

[DerpRavener]

“Goodbye, changeling.”

From her position at the street corner it was almost too quiet to hear, but there it was. 'Spring Breeze' froze, slowly looking behind. Her face had a carefully neutral expression on it, but there was fear in her eyes.

The pegasus was already gone however, and she ended up staring at an empty street. Relief and concern over this fact warred for dominance in her head. If he had already left, he probably wasn't going to act on the information, but that anypony had figured out her secret at all meant she made a dangerous mistake.

Troubled as she was, 'Spring Breeze' still had a lot of ground to make up today. She forced herself to continue on (for now at least), and made her way slowly and hesitantly toward the town centre.

--END--