Happenings -Hem, Kiev-

[Zadaxtrina Wall-Flower]

An important part of her line of work is to know who to trust. Another part of her job was to never trust anyone. They contradicted each other, certainly, but Dax was fairly sure she knew which people she met with (or at least the ones that knew her name--it's a very small list) that she could trust. One such man, she was on the way to meet with. In her social circle, there were a few types of people you needed to know. People who were good at healing injuries were important, it also paid to know people who could gather supplies. Dax was still fairly knew the this business of...providing, but her network of helpful people held a few promising leads.

Her contractor, a friend of the Wall-Flowers, told her of an apothecary man, a Ghost, who could get her all sorts of plants and herbs and potions that would unhinge the jaws of her targets with ease. There was a large part of Dax that enjoyed having to work hard, but she knew she sometimes took longer than was absolutely necessary to accomplish her goals. Thus she needed the things this man could provide. She'd had her contractor contact this man. She now had an appointment with the man. He lurked the Soprano District and didn't much leave--that was fine with Dax. She rarely made it out of Bass unless it was for work, and she could appreciate the aimless walk.

Well, at least she made it look like she was walking aimlessly. Even though it was at night and she was a little thing, she carried her umbrella over her shoulder and low, her eyes on the ground. She walked lazily and without purpose. It took longer than a direct route to their meeting place, but Dax was raised to be paranoid and she knew it paid off. She'd been aware of the tail she had since she got a block away from her apartment. She'd lost them when she ducked through a closed shop to another block and then made it into the Soprano District. She stood on the street next to the Pastoral Fields for a moment, looking at every one and thing around her before she deemed it safe enough to walk onto the actual field and towards the meeting spot.

She slunk into the shadow of a large stalk of what appeared to be corn and shut her umbrella. In her hiding spot--in plain sight--she waited for the man she was meeting with to arrive.

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[Amabilis Hemlocke]

It had been little over six years since Hemlocke had a client come to him. Luckily his parents had paid off their home when he was little, and he had enough money to buy what he needed to survive. The nature around the Soprano district has provided him with sustenance and he is eternally grateful for that. However when the one from the... what was it... Wall-Flowers? Yes. The Wall-Flowers had contacted him through another source, a friend of the Wall-Flowers, they claimed to be.

He was alone in his home testing out one of his new imaginative potions that would turn the recipient into a cockroach, when there was a knock on the door. "Now... Who could that be at this hour?" Hem asked himself as he walked, crouched as not to hit his head on any of the wooden girders supporting the roof. When he opened the door, the man was faced the other way and had his back turned to the door, most likely looking in the vast direction beneath him. What a shame it would be to fall off at such a great height. "Can I... Help you?" Hemlock asked as the giant stepped out towards the man. Obviously he was taken back at his height and ghastly appearance. It was a common reaction. The man stuttered at first, but soon began to explain that he had someone that would like to contract with Hemlocke. All of the details were shared and the connection was on his way. That was all only a few days ago

Tonight was a big night for Hemlocke, but it wasn't for the fact that he had one contract to fill, but another had come just a few nights after.

The man that appeared before Kieve in streets of Soprano surprised him, which is generally hard to do. Hemlocke turned around to see a man with a mask. "Isn't it... A little to early for Halloween, young man?" Hemlocke smiled, even though all that does is show his teeth more. The masked man seemed less than pleased to hear the joke coming from Hem's mouth. Hem let his smile "fade" which just meant his teeth were not shown as much, but the smile was still present. This man also needed some of his herbs for an unknown purpose. Hemlocke agreed and scheduled the man to arrive the same night of his previous appointment, unbeknownst to the masked man.

Now as Hemlocke takes his leave and walks down the high branch to the trunk of the tree, he feels excitement for one of the first times in quite the long time. Maybe even he could befriend... No. Nothing good has ever come from trusting that one so much. It was all about him, nowadays, and this was strictly business matters. On his way down the massive tree's stairways, he imagined what his other client would appear to be. He imagined a tall handsome man, albeit most likely not as tall as him, with a great sword who wishes to douse his sword in poison to vanquish demons wrought through the town. He lost himself in his thoughts as he made his way through the tunnel that linked the inside of the tree to the outside Soprano area.

To his surprise, when he arrived to the rendezvous spot, there was a little girl. An extremely little girl. Hemlocke was not to be fooled by appearances, for he was his own living proof of this, so as he approached the girl and her umbrella, he raised his voice "Miss? A question... Are you of the Wall-Flowers?" He kept his distance, to make it seem as if it were a simple coincidence that he might know her, just in case it was not his client, however he stared at the small figure waiting for her response.

[Kieve Viho]

It wasn't exactly his style, but Kieve couldn't be opposed to things that would make murdering his bastard father easier. Hemlocke, the ghost of Soprano district, was said to be excellent at his craft. Kieve was still skeptical. Where he came from the tribe could do many things with the proper herbs, but he'd never heard of any that were meant to kill or assist in killing. Paralytics. Such a peculiar concept indeed, Kieve thought with a slight frown.

The other day when he had first met with the man who would be supplying him, Kieve was mostly satisfied. The man was tall, most likely intimidating to anyone else, and had a somewhat sick grin plastered on his face. At least he fit the part of a 'ghost' in Kieve's eyes. As to if his product worked, that was what Kieve was here to even find out about. The Soprano district was an interesting place to live, but the young green haired man hadn't expected it to have a seedy underbelly. That was why he lived there though. Soprano was known for it's healers and it was generally a nice place to live.

No one could even possibly think that Kieve would be living there. Thief Heart himself living amongst healers and hippies? Not likely. The man had been sneaking through the district, but once he got to the edges of it he could no longer stay out of sight. Unfortunate, the young man thought dryly. That meant it would be time to slip on his new mask. The last one had been shattered by Llyr and he was using a piss poor backup until a new one could be crafted.

The soft golden mask glinted in the light as he pulled it out. The young man stared at it for a few moments, taking in the craftsmanship of the one who had made it. Damn shame he had to kill them so his secret was kept. At the very least he had them make quit a few before he killed them. A proper Thief, Kieve was, and he wouldn't risk being recognized. The boy closed his eyes and pushed his hair out of the way as he put on the mask. No one would see him as he did this of course.

Once he was completely ready, Kieve began his trudge out to the fields where he was supposed to meet and... Was there another person there as well? A girl? Kieve clenched his fists in frustration. At first he assumed it must just be by chance that she was there, but then Kieve watched as Hemlocke addressed her in an inquisitive manner. The man was expecting a girl as well. Dirty bastard should have known how foolish this was. Unless somehow he didn't understand the strength of the man he was working for.

That concept enraged the boy. It was a good thing, he thought, that he brought Soul with him. The speared-halberd was a dangerous weapon and Kieve was a very dangerous man. "I am not amused, Hemlocke," Kieve announced, not much caring how the other girl took it.

[Zadaxtrina Wall-Flower]

Being early divided the line between being prepared or being caught off guard. Dax wouldn't have cared if she stood underneath the stalk of vegetable or whatever it was for an hour, because in that hour all she would have been doing was planning and preparing for when this guy actually showed up. As it so happened, she caught sight of a looming shadow slowly making it's way towards her general direction five minutes after she'd taken up her post. She lowered her umbrella and closed it--there was a simple flip catch that would release the contraption that would reveal the blade should she need it--and set the tip of the umbrella on the toe of one of her shoes.

This guy was really tall.

Not that Dax felt intimidated by it in the slightest. Dax was well equipped to get him out of commission in a handful of different ways. His knees were easily reachable from where she stood, and a well placed heel would sever the anterior cruciate ligament or the medial collateral ligament depending on the angle at which the stiletto made contact with his soft tissue. That was probably her best bed in incapacitating him, to go for his legs first and then improvise once he collapses. Not that she was about to do that, but as she approached she made sure to have a back up plan to this plan.

Oh his smile. It seemed permanently etched upon his face. Dax liked this guy.

"Miss? A question... Are you of the Wall-Flowers?" Dax bounced up a little on her heels, a completely fake smile plastered on her face, which was totally convincing except for her eyes. Dax hadn't yet mastered the perfect smile.

"You are the ghost, then?" She asked with a small incline of her head. Her smile lessened to one more appropriate for this situation after she'd asked her question. However when a man approached them from the road, all pleasantness-however forged--vanished completely from the girl as he came closer, Dax caught sight of the weapon he was carrying. "Pitiful," she hissed at Hemlocke, and as the man came to a stop and voiced his own distress, Dax released the catch on her umbrella, the canopy of the umbrella slid off and with that delicious sounding metal shing she lifted her sword and glared between the two men.

"What is this? Who hired you?"

[/b] There wasn't much of a grey area with Dax. She was never to trust, and she was never to believe in coincidences or accidents. And never in her wildest dreams would she have guessed that Hemlocke would have put two appointments on one night.[/blockquote][/justify][/size]

[Amabilis Hemlocke]

It was such a pleasant night. The moon was nearly full, only waning a slight bit giving it an pseudo-disfigured form, and not a cloud was seen in the sky. Perfect night to go herb hunting. Perfect night in general, but all pleasantries aside, there was business to tend to. When the girl had stood up and bounced on her heels, she seemed rather adorable and then she smiled... a rather odd smile, for her eyes we slightly off. They seemed a little too happy. Nonetheless, Hemlocke would not shun a client no matter what. She inquired if Hemlocke was the "ghost" of the district, in which his repose was a frown, or in his case, the smile only flattened out across his face. It was a hurtful term to call him a ghost, but it was indeed the nickname he had earned throughout the years of living a nocturnal life. Given the circumstances, it would weed out those too frightened to help or purchase from Hemlocke in the first place.

Hemlocke's "frown" faded quickly, as he did not want to seem not apt for the job. For this meeting to be planned through a third party, then she must have been very well along in her trade, much like Hem and his apothecary ways. His female client was about to receive her response, when the other client he had scheduled for the night had shown up. He had known Kieve for only a short time now, but did not know he was equipped with such a large halberd. It was a rather beautiful glow in the moonlight, and looked very deadly the way Kieve had wielded it. Hemlocke had not seen many breakouts of fights before, and the rush that Kieve brought with his weapon made Hemlocke smile. It was exciting working with people again, except this time the people were killers and dangerous. This was the life that Hemlocke wanted. The one his parents guarded him from.

"Now now, Kieve let's not--" Hemlocke was interrupted by the graceful sound of a sword being unsheathed to his other side. The girl had a secret inside that umbrella of hers and the noise itself sent shivers down his spine. He was not used to such confrontations, other than keeping people apart in the market when a product was on it's last leg and two people wanted it at the same time. This was much different though, as this was life or death. She uttered a word from her mouth as she drew her weapon, but the worry that began to settle in kept Hemlocke from hearing what she had said.

Hemlocke began to think that it might have been a bad idea to schedule these two clients on the same night. If it had been two other people than assassins, then this problem might not have ever risen up. But alas, two assassins they were and as such, he would deal with them as best as he could, even if it might be his last night in this world.

Kieve and the Wall-Flower girl both revealed their weapons, and it made Hemlocke wish he had his own to flaunt, but sadly his only weapon was his dialect. In which he was about to whip out and calm these two down." Kieve. Miss Wall-Flower. I know that under the given circumstances it may seem as if something was planned against you both. I plea to you both, this was my own doing and no others took any part in this scheduling." Hemlocke tried his best to comfort the two, despite them both having weapons out. If worse came to worse, Hemlocke brought smokescreens that he could disappear in to, but Kieve would be the problem. He knew where Hem lived and if he gave chase, it would be over. Hemlocke tried avoiding such an outcome.

Hopefully his last statement answered the girl's question that she threw into the mix. "Although you both are my only customers, I am very busy indeed. Making these things that you might require takes time. Two bird, one stone, my friends. If we knock my demonstration out tonight, I will have more time to complete your projects." Hemlocke pleaded to the two killers as best as he could. If the girls question was answered, it was now time to calm the green-haired man. He had nothing against the girl as she was obviously fine on her own, her proof being the way she held her sword. However, Hem was generally more inclined to Kieve being the more dangerous one.

His smile stretched wider showing his version of a "smile". "Kieve. I implore you. I implore you both, Hemlocke glanced at the girl, then back at Kieve. "This occurrence was entirely my fault, and I apologize, but bear with me and I will prove to you that you can trust me." Hem held his hands out after producing a glowing purple potion. It was almost able to produce enough light in the darkness of the night, and it showed Hem's ghastly smile as he knew what the concoction would do. He absolutely loved demonstrating his adherents, and hopefully he would obtain the trust of this couple with his demonstration. "Shall we?" Hem asked, turning his hair-covered face to both Miss Wall-Flower and Kieve.

[Kieve Viho]

A fine mess this grey haired bastard had made. Kieve had his reserves about the man from the first minute and such a stunt as this would not smooth his doubts any. It was almost enough to make Kieve want to end the pathetic man right then and there but something stopped him. Kieve didn't want to think it was the girl and he didn't want to go into why he didn't want to think that.

A train of thought for another time, Kieve scolded himself silently. No he needed to focus on the girl so she didn't stab him in the back. Shadow matters such as this certainly didn't enjoy company and Kieve was the best at such shadow matters so rightfully he was on his guard. Not on edge, no, just prepared.

Preparation that turned out to be in good mind. The girl, looking innocent by all outward accounts, quickly freed a sword from her umbrella. Just proved that Kieve knew his shit even if he didn't consider the girl any threat at all. Kieve was too focused the utterly foolish thing that Hemlocke had done to even be concerned with the girl. The fact that she asked who he was hired by amused him more than anything else.

As if Kieve were the type of skill that could be hired. Thief heart did as he wished and didn't take no for an answer no matter what the situation. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves?" Kieve started after Hemlocke had silenced. "Let's not do something foolish." Each word was spoken through a tightly locked jaw with a deep stare of anger just beyond the golden mask. The bastard was lucky he couldn't see, Kieve thought silently.

As much as he wanted to get right into things at that moment Kieve allowed Hemlocke to address the girl. It was obvious he was trying to diffuse the situation by trying to convince her that Kieve wasn't an assassin sent to kill her with his help. Thief Heart never assumed for one moment that such a thing was the case. No he just knew that Hemlocke had spilled a secret about him wishing to use such poisons that was a very stupid thing to do. Gathering two well trained assassins would only have gotten the man killed if he had foul intentions. All of this Kieve knew yet he still felt so utterly furious at it all.

Hemlocke had just given Kieve another target should this meeting go sour. A target that knew how to defend herself would be entertaining for a change, but Kieve was still not happy at the mess. "I care nothing for the girl," He announced sternly, "And I also care nothing for how busy you are you fool. You just spilled one of my secrets and I am not in a particularly forgiving mood about it."

Even though Hemlocke said it was entirely his fault and that he would prove that he could be trusted Kieve still almost lost his urge to bother at all. Poisons were a waste of his time! Kieve would scold himself on the fact for weeks certainly. "I won't kill you here though Hemlocke. If I do it'll be later when I don't have a spectator. You better damn well hope your services are worth this trouble."

[Zadaxtrina Wall-Flower]

Dax was a good actress. She needed to be. She liked it better when she caught her opponents unawares--she was a tiny thing and knew her strength was not on the same level as most of her opponents, like these two men she was facing at the moment--and when her enemies underestimated her. After proving herself a truly worthy adversary, the rest of the encounter was usually tinged with fear and that was where Dax would come out on top. She knew there were a few types of fights she could never get in and be successful, and those were mono-a-mono brawls, where it was strength against strength. Hand to hand combat was something Dax was acceptable in, when fighting someone her own size and weight, but there weren't many people in the hundred and ten pound, five feet tall class in this business. Dax won her fights by out smarting the other person, and using any means necessary.

If this was to break out into a fight--and it very well could--Dax would have to disarm the man with the halberd, first and foremost. Hemlocke did not strike her as the sort to get physical, or to rush into a fight, and that theory was backed up when he tried to be a medium between the two of them and calm them with soothing words of how he had done this on purpose, a two birds and one stone sort of scenario. Dax's nostrils flared at his insolence. If Dax was not worried about keeping her identity a secret then she would not have used her friend to set up this meeting, and would have gone and seen him herself. His almost flippant disregard to her use of discretion almost gave her whiplash. Almost.

That was not the case, and she did not forgive him simply for his words. She laughed derisively--she could not help it--as the man, Kieve, started to speak to Hemlocke. She had come across his type before all throughout her work in the underground. People like him were all over the place. Foolish and arrogant they were. This fool now only exhibited his tendency to threaten. Dax didn't doubt his ability to follow through with those threats--no--but it was the fact that he didn't on this occasion that caused her to laugh at him. He was wasting his breath and Hemlocke's 'precious' time with them and their idleness. He was only proving that he could not control his temper and thought highly of himself. Dax was pleased with this.

She could use that to play against him--she didn't know what his 'secret' was nor did she care. She turned her attention to Hemlocke, her pleased little smile still on her face. "An award winning performance, don't you think? Kieve you must act professionally, for a moment I almost believed you." She only knew this guy's name because Hemlocke had addressed him with it, and she only said that to get a rise out of him, to get him just off tilt enough that he was no longer a threat. She wasn't looking at him like an opponent anymore, not since what he had said, instead thought of him only as an annoyance that needed to be dealt with. To mirror this new perspective of the man she lowered her sword so the tip was just tickling the grass at their feet, she did not relax completely because she wasn't an idiot.

Dax could kill Kieve here, and now, in front of Hemlocke. She was not worried about him witnessing the act. It wasn't like the authorities didn't already had it out for her or anything, and she was very good at losing tails. She sighed, "enough of this fooling around. Show us your demonstration so we can depart, less we draw eyes to ourselves in our idleness." Dax wasn't amused by Kieve's childish antics any longer and was ready to see what she had walked all this way to see.

(>.> So sorry about the wait gaiz.)

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