whispers, rumors, lies / achromatic

While some of the Umbras radiated a certain power about them, it wasn't true for the rest. The order was always a hidden one, with different people for different things. While the guards were easy to spot–big, muscle boys, often with too much brawn to brain ratio–and some of their more powerful beings, the patrons, constantly boasted about how infallible they were, there were others who were not so in the public eye. 

Safiya was one of them. Nothing really stood out about the girl. Scrappy, small, she barely seemed a threat. There was no radiating power from her aura, nor did she wave about any powerful weapon or show off her powers. Frankly, she seemed a little too skinny to be part of a group that powerful. Still, she was the one chosen for this mission. It seemed like whoever their leader was, he had a plan. 

Divya, the thief. She hadn't been told what the girl would look like, or...anything about that girl really, but whoever she was, she must've been a threat if they sent one of them after her. There had just been a meeting place. A warning to be careful. Despite Esso'tera's clothing being rather lightweight, the sleeves of her coat were perfect for hiding her knives, just in case.

The young woman's eyes shifted, left to right. It was always important to know the area. Exits, windows, suspicious people, shops...and suddenly, she felt the brush of cloth against her shoulder. Oh? 

She hadn't expected an assistant, but then again, in places like these, temporary help was easy to hire. She would know; she had carried out missions for other groups as a child. A runner, they'd call them. Kids who could divert the attention of someone, or bring them somewhere. 

"Reya," she greeted evenly, though distrust was visible in her eyes, "I assume Divya isn't to meet me at all, if she sent an assistant to fetch me." 

Safiya rolled her eyes. Tests, really? It made sense, of course, but she hated wasting time. Still, it wasn't exactly difficult. It was just her luck, after all, that pickpocketing was an easy task. She had been doing it since she was ten. A girl had to learn how to live off the streets, after all. A smirk on her face, she shrugged at Reya, before wandering around the market. 

Pickpocketing wasn't difficult, it was all about the people. The shopkeepers who tried to flirt with their customers were the easiest, and after living in Esso'tera for so long, it was clear who was a tourist and who wasn't. A moment later, she had found a man wearing shoes no one would be caught dead wearing in a market like this. It screamed naivety, to wear anything other than one's usual, dirty shoes in a place like this. Those white slippers were an easy giveaway. She moved towards the man who was excitedly looking at the wares of a pottery stall, accidentally bumping into him. 

"Oh, are you okay?" her expression was one of concern, "I'm so sorry, there's just too many people around here." 

The man gave her a shy laugh, before waving it off as nothing. She only smiled sweetly at him, before moving towards the next stall. Oh, rings? She always did appreciate them. The man at the stall however, didn't seem to enjoy a street rat looking at his wares so closely, trying them on.

"Oi, move on will ya?" he snapped, "ya can't afford it." 

She scowled. "How do you know?" 

He sneered. "You don't have any money, do you?" 

"Yes I do," she replied, before squinting at him. "You know what I think? You just want me to pull out my money so your accomplice can snatch it." She turned to the other woman who was looking at the rings. 

"This man's a scammer," she spoke with a disdainful look on her face, "he just wants you to take a look while his friends go looking through your pockets. I've seen this before." 

The man gave an indignant shout, shooing her from the stall, which she willingly went. Glancing around, she headed back to the corner Reya was standing on. 

"This enough?" she smirked, pulling out a wallet with one hand and three rings in another, "do I get a bonus for the extra goods?"

Safiya snorted. Why? What was with everyone constantly asking why she wanted to do things? She didn't have a choice, period. Even if she did, what was there to explain? Everyone had to survive somehow. The Umbras had asked her the same question when she was brought in. Why did she want to be here? Was there anywhere else to go?

"There's nothing else out there," she scoffed, leaning back on the chair, "I mean, people always ask why don't they? But does anyone really have a reason why they want to do anything? We're all just out here trying to survive. There's no other reason why. Only the people with money have the privilege of asking why they want to live; the rest of us are too busy out here fighting for the crumbs." 

It wasn't a true answer, Safiya knew that. Still, it was as good a reason as she could give. After all, why else would a thief exist if not to continue living? 

Safiya couldn't help the smirk that appeared on her face. "You have to be a rat to survive here," she pointed out, looking over the woman's hand for a second before taking it. She could tell that whoever this girl was, she must've grown up in a similar way she did. Then again, that in itself wasn't even rare around these parts; Esso'tera was a difficult land to live in. It was every person for themselves out here. 

She quickly followed after Divya. "I've heard about you, but I've been...curious. They talk around here, you know, how you've gotten some...big targets before, but....if money's all the power, then why do you still steal from the little ones? Pickpocketing, stealing from the shops...they're all easy pickings, aren't they? Eventually no matter how much you take from them, there's still not enough to get real power." 

Divya was interesting, at least. The two of them had similar ideas on how the world worked; it was a rat's race to the top. Still, what did she really have planned? It was one thing to steal–especially to steal from the Umbras–but it was a different ball game to climb her way to the top.

Safiya nodded thoughtfully. Interesting. A woman who wanted power, yet wanted to do nothing with it; was that even possible? She frowned. "I don't think I understand," she replied slowly, "but I suppose that's something I'll learn. I just assumed you'd want something other than a comfortable life, you know, if you're good at what you do, you'd want more than just a simple life."

She had grown up in these parts, watching people climb to the top. One thing she had learned was that no one was ever truly satisfied. Even if they said they were. They always wanted something more. 

Safiya shrugged. "I guess I'm not so sure yet," she replied honestly, "there's a lot of things I want." It was true. She wanted something better. She wanted revenge. She wanted to stop grovelling for everything that she needed. She wanted to fend for herself. She wanted her sister back. 

"Let's just say that learning how this game works will be productive in where I want to go." 

Safiya shrugged. "Yeah, I get that, but when you're at the top...isn't it important to solidify that power?" 

Perhaps she was revealing a little too much about herself. She herself wasn't exactly seeking political power either, but she saw what it afforded them. Hiding in the shadows but having fingers in everything, whoever led the Umbras had that type of power, and that kind of power was protection. It was purpose. 

"I know a place," she replied slowly, "a family that lives just outside of town." It was true, there was a house outside of town, a rather fancy one. One of the Umbra's houses, though it was information kept under wraps. Safiya's eyes met Divya's once more. "They have money. A couple, three kids. They're foster kids I think." 

Safiya looked away. "They used to house my sister." 

It wasn't true, but this was a lie that was easy to fake. After all, it wasn't much of a lie at all. 

Safiya's eyes were dark, flickering towards Divya for a brief second as she continued on the dirt path. "Revenge doesn't always have to bring out emotions," she pointed out, "sometimes it's best served cold." It was true for most things, and in the case of her sister, she knew it was better that the younger girl was left somewhere else, out of the way of all the shit she was wading through. It wasn't as true for certain other things, such as those who were responsible for her brothers' disappearance, but that was a different story. 

"Let's just say I don't trust any of these adults," she offered, "they say they want the best for us kids back then, that their homes are better than the streets, but we never have a choice, do we? They just take the ones that are easy, and leave the rest of us to rot." 

Her eyes turned to Divya. "What's the point of having power unless you use it for something, right?" 

Safiya smirked; of course Divya would understand. There were so many orphans in Esso'tera, after all; it was a dangerous region, if the wilds didn't get you, the people certainly could. She shrugged. "Good way to live life," she commented, "better safe than sorry, I suppose." It was true, the lucky kids got adopted either were young or useful; anyone who needed an extra pair of hands often tried to do so by adopting an older child from the overfilled orphanages, but even then it was difficult. 

There was no way to ensure one's safety, after all, unless they can do it on their own. 

They neared an old house, a rather large souk that seemed easy to scale. It wasn't busy on the road, and there were no lights inside, no one walking around. 

"That's the one," Safiya pointed out, "the husband's out on a business trip I believe. Saw the guy get on a carriage a few days ago."

Safiya nodded, before turning to the building. "To be honest, I want to see you do it first," she admitted, "I've done a few robberies here and there, but never really somewhere this big, you know?" 

She knew there were traps inside the building just in case; she had memorized the layout of it all, and there would always be other Umbra agents nearby if she needed any, but it had been years since Safiya had relied on other help, and she certainly wouldn't need it now.