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Ghost

Hidden from prying eyes, in a nook atop the deck of a merchant ship stopped in the Rasen Kaikyo, sat a hooded Raen, blue eyes focused on a small rowboat that crossed the Hingan sea to a small island. Deep currant purple was her colour of choice, her hood, over-shirt, boots, and all matching, hidden beneath a cloth tarp on the vessel’s deck. Blond and silver locks of hair were tucked inside, framing a rounded, almost cherubic face, though dark maroon lips turned downward in a thoughtful frown.

The isle was wooded, and above its low canopy, rooftops were visible. The rowboat made landing upon a small dock and the man occupying it departed with a small payload: a cut of profits for the trader that lived on and owned the small island home. Heading for the dock, she sought out to steal away in another of the ship’s rowboats once there were none to watch and made her way around the side of the island.

Hali had stood before her mentor, her best friend in all of Hydaelyn, Kel Lin - Kaori - after yet another training session. She had managed to impress the other Auri woman with a rather daring, if reckless, manoeuvre in dodging balls thrown at her to practice evasion. They had finished, and, she was told, it was time for her first trial: a true mission worthy of a shinobi.

“There's a scroll you must obtain, from people that would like to keep it from you. I can tell you who has it: a wealthy Hingan merchant by the name of Takeda,” Kel had explained, “He recently acquired the scroll after it passed through a number of hands in trade. You must get it, and you must not read it. You must not even open it. The how, the where, and everything else... Is up to you.”

It had been a long few days. She had become Naeuri no Katsu, the songstress from Doma, again, and spent two days flitting from bar to restaurant, offering her services as a performer or simply spending time relaxing, all the while eavesdropping on other merchants about this Takeda. Much was said, but what stood out to her was that he was known, so she began to trace her way through public records or sneak her way through those less-so. Eventually, it led to a ship that had only just made port, offloading textiles and drink.

The ship itself only ever off-loaded in Kugane, and so she stowed away, hidden cleverly in a space not often checked with another nearby in case she had to move. She left “Katsu” in Kugane, proceeding as herself, her currant purple adventurer’s armour protecting her body, her shirt’s hood and a stolen Imperial filtration mask protecting her identity.

Eventually, the ship arrived in Bukyo, where the crew departed shortly to begin the process of swapping out and loading new goods for trade. During this time, she managed to steal away with the ship’s manifest. Having worked in Ul’dah under the Crawfords, she knew how she could find the merchant: follow the money. Soon enough, she found it. Though much was kept in circulation, buying low, selling high, and increasing profits ever-higher, at the end of each week or when a threshold of net profit was reached, an overseer would depart for a small island while the trade ship made a short detour, anchoring just off the coast.

After dragging her rowboat up into the treeline and covering it to keep it hidden, she made her way to the outer wall of the estate, climbing one of the nearby trees and making herself comfortable, hidden in the foliage while she observed. A large outer wall, likely about twice as tall as she was, surrounded the outside with only one clear entrance: the front. A long outer building at the edge of the wall surrounded the three-story pagoda in the centre, all of it appearing to be of traditional Hingan design, the outer building all screens and sliding doors and the wall and inner pagoda bearing sloped, tiled roofing. The bottom of the pagoda, like a large, open-air lobby, was open on all sides.

From where she watched, she spied multiple guards roaming the grounds, as if already watching for intruders. That, she thought, boded ill already. All were dressed in fabrics, but carried katanas, marking them, likely, as hired samurai. Two were at the gate, likely more for meeting - or in her case, turning away - would-be visitors, about four more roamed the stone paths about the courtyard, and yet four more practised their blade work in a small training area within the courtyard proper. Ten guards, she counted. They changed shifts, it seemed, every two hours. Two came from inside the second floor of the house as two entered, the guards at the gate switching as well. Those on the grounds staggered with the others, switching every two bells, but on a bell’s difference to keep them moving.

She pondered how to approach. The wall itself would be a poor choice: it was featureless and tall, requiring tools to climb on either side, in all likelihood, and getting over the top would make her stand out clearly. Even if she used vanishing dust, a grapple or rope would make her ascent too obvious. However, the only other way would be through the front, and past the two guards. How to do that, however, would be the question. She couldn’t wait for them to switch shifts at the gate. It was too open. She had to find another way around.

Climbing down from her vantage point, Hali sneaked her way around the perimeter of the wall, slowly and silently, observing the trees near it, the top of the wall, stopping when she got to another side of the estate to observe from that angle. Around the opposite side from where she had first approached, she found her answer: a nearby tree - small, yet sturdy, leaned precariously close to the wall, its branches obscuring the area directly over the wall, only a spare few fulms above its roofing. The corner of the estate itself seemed less-watched from what she could see. The chef’s quarters were just on the other side and she could drop down behind it. It’d been just over four bells that she’d been watching and pondering, and dinner was beginning. One chef had just left to convene with the other for that very purpose, and so the quarters would be empty.

With a bit of haste, she began to climb the smaller, leaning tree, keeping herself as steady and light on her hands and feet as possible. Given its size, if she went too quickly, it would shake, giving away her position. Once just over the wall, she applied vanishing dust to herself and dropped down. With a poof of the small clay ball in her hand as it cracked, she became little more than a shimmer for a precious moment, the clay shards discarded behind her. By the time she hit the dirt with a soft thud, it had worn off, but that was enough. Waiting for the sound of approach, she began to make her way into the chef’s quarters.

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she remembered Kel’s words, "This will test you. If you end up in a fight, something has gone wrong. No great beasts to slay, or people to stab. In fact. You are not to kill anyone.” That made this difficult. She knew why that was important, and relished the challenge, but it made things stressful. She was to be a ghost, in and out without notice, without touching a single person. That was the plan, and she was going to stick to it.

The chef’s quarters were humble: just a few tatami mats, a bed, some personal effects, and necessities. It was simple, and there was, Hali felt, a charm to it all the same. She took a breath from behind her mask, however, and made her way to the other side, cracking the white screen door just enough to peer out, obscured by the darkness within the room.

One of four guards passed on his way around the courtyard. From here, she had a clear view of the lower level. The kitchen and lounge areas of the main building were down below, and the smell of rice, fish, and vegetables filled the courtyard, reminding the would-be-shinobi of how hungry she was and causing her to exhale sharply. The next problem presented itself clearly. The four guards on patrol were spaced evenly, each watching down their own part of the paths in the courtyard surrounding the building, and all four had a constant view not only of the entire bottom floor, but through to the other side. Minimal furniture also meant minimal cover. She would have to make her way through the kitchen and avoid the chefs, who were now both busy with dinner preparations.

Waiting for a chance, she shot across the courtyard, low, silent, and quick, and darted behind a counter in the kitchen. These provided her with her best cover, but not for long. The chefs, as she knew from personal experience, though focused fully on their work, were likely quite mindful of their space. She had to keep out of sight; they would likely notice her even before the sharp-eyed samurai surrounding the building. The kitchen itself was beneath the stairs leading to the second floor. She would have to duck around the stairs and ascend before being noticed. With only two more applications of vanishing dust, she couldn’t risk it. She simply had to be quick.

Darting out from her cover once one of the guards passed behind her, she slipped out into the foyer beside the stairs, watching the guard on her side of the mansion pass by with his back to her. The next one would be coming, though, and very soon. Though it was not great cover, there was a large vase with decorative flowers to either side of the stairwell leading up to the second floor. She ducked behind it and waited, making herself as small as possible. In the nook, she was out of side of all but the next guard should he look directly to his left. Fortunately, as the guard passed, his eyes focused before him. She began to scoot the vase out, little by little, until she could slip around behind it and up the stairs.

As she reached the top of the stairs, she slowed to a stop, keeping low once she was out of sight of those below, her heart jumping into her throat. She found herself, at the top, face-to-heel with a guard as he patrolled the second level, pacing past the stairs in his rounds. With a silent gulp to clear the lump in her throat, she slowly eased into a corner beside the stairs to watch the man depart. Peeking out after him, calming herself from the near-miss, she looked out in either direction. Windows lined the hall, all white and opaque, but coloured orange from the setting sun. To her immediate right, a sliding door caught her attention, and, as the guard rounded the corner and disappeared, she softly slid it open and ducked inside the room.

The room was clearly, from the moment she silently shut the door behind her, a library. Various shelves stood proudly, stacked to the ceiling with books, all in Othard’s native languages, but mostly in Hingan.

“Hm?” came a decidedly male voice from around one of the shelves, causing Hali’s heart to jump back into her throat when the man spoke in Hingan, “Now who might that be? Takeda-san?” Footsteps began to pace on the hard wood of the library floor with the clacking of geta, leaving the intruding Raen to scramble for cover behind one of the neighbouring shelves.

“Huh,” came the voice again, sounding puzzled. The man opened the door to peek out into the hall, and Hali wound her way further into the library. She had to find a spot to hide until this man - Takeda’s advisor, Tadayori she presumed - left. A trio of desks atop a large tatami mat, arranged along three of its sides, sat before her. One in particular had a small lamp lit, and a book stood open upon it. She heard no footsteps and saw no one round the corner, so she scanned through the book, crouching low to the desk so she could read it.

It was nothing of importance, unfortunately, appearing to be some kind of ledger for Tadayori’s own transactions, some of the ink still drying. He must have, she figured, been perusing the library while he waited for it to dry. The footsteps began again, and she ducked behind another bookshelf, crouching low. Fortunately, the man was easy to track. A very tall male Raen with a severe but weathered expression rounded the corner as she watched him from the other side of a shelf in the gap above a number of books. He didn’t notice her, instead kneeling down at the desk to check his ledger. With a sigh upon finding it still drying, he opened a book and began to read.

The next moments were excruciating. However, Tadayori’s attention was called away at the sound of a bell being rung. Dinner was served. He shut his ledger and made for the door. Hali remained until she heard the door open and shut again. She was alone, and all but the guards on duty, she presumed, would be gathering for dinner in the lounge downstairs.

Opening the sliding door again, she peered down the hall to see a guard standing at the top of the stairs, staring down them with a hawkish gaze, likely after someone. He took two steps forward and nodded silently when another, younger, voice spoke to him from what sounded like the stairs. One of Takeda’s sons, the girl surmised. She used the momentary distraction to her advantage and rounded the corner, sneaking off and around the hall. As she approached the other side of the building, she found the other guard, standing still as a statue, his gaze panning left and right as he stood before a door beside the next flight of stairs, likely, she thought, to be a vault or treasury of some kind. She’d need to find a way in there.

For the time being, however, she needed to focus on getting out of sight. The guard’s gaze was slowly moving toward her, sandwiching her between the guard who would be approaching her from behind very soon. She pulls back around the corner, waiting and listening. Voices came from below, all from Takeda, his sons, and Tadayori. She couldn’t be certain of the guard had begun moving again, yet. A moment more, however, and the beginnings of his silhouette passed into view. When he turned to peer down the corridor, however, Hali had made herself scarce, having ducked around the corner and into where the next guard had been looking just moments before. Her luck was still with her, and she avoided his peripheral vision as she crept silently along the hall, slipping up the next flight of stairs.

While she waited, she figured, she could at least investigate the rooms on the third floor. Those rooms, upon quick investigation, belonged to Takeda, Tadayori, and Tadeka’s three sons, all bearing purely-wooden sliding doors with no screens, and rather out-of-place-looking modern locks. She headed first for Takeda’s room, hoping that, should it not be in the treasury, the scroll would be in his room. She tried the door, and found it locked. She silently cursed her luck and began looking for a lock to pick until she heard a voice.

“Yes, yes, I will return in a moment! Patience,” echoed a chuckling voice up the stairs. Takeda was coming, and she needed to hide. She ducked into the first room next to his, belonging to one of his sons. The door slid open and she slipped through before leaving it open just a crack to watch. The man walked past, whistling merrily, before using a key to unlock the door to his own room. Minutes went by as she listened to footsteps in the next room, and then, the whistling audible again, the door slid open and shut once more, geta clacking on the floor again as he walked down the hall until, descending the stairs, he was gone.

Hali slipped out of the son’s room, closing the door, and began the task of picking the lock to the room and making her way in. The door closed behind her and she was met with a surprisingly simple room for a wealthy merchant. Though there were some decorative displays, there was little that would show the man’s opulence or wealth. It looked comfortable, but nothing was too extreme. Within moments, however, her eyes fell on her prize: a sealed scroll sat in a case, held by a large suit of traditional samurai armour that stood in a recessed area behind Takeda’s desk. With quick steps and a keen eye to make sure there were no traps to spring, she set forth to pluck the scroll from its case.

She had expected as much when the case proved to be locked. She didn’t expect, however, for Takeda to make a second return. Geta clacked down the hallway again, and her heart skipped a beat in panic. As the door opened, she had nowhere else to hide but behind the armour, mimicking its stance perfectly, arms tucked behind her back. It was to her benefit that the armour’s helm was wider than the fin-shaped horns on either side of her head.

“...I know I did not forget to lock my door. Who is there?” the man demanded with a bit of anxiety to his voice. He began to pace around the room, causing Hali to purse her lips, eyes wide behind her mask as she palmed another clay ball of vanishing dust.

Footsteps approached the armour and then silence reigned for what felt like bells, days, months, even eras before, with a huff, the footsteps began to depart again as the man muttered, “I am getting too old for this...” The door opened, shut, and clicked as Hali found herself locked in. At least it would provide a little extra warning than her carelessness had left her the last time. She slipped out from behind the armour very carefully and began the work of picking the lock on the scroll’s display case. Popping it open, she tucked it safely into her satchel and closed the case again.

The hardest part, now, would be leaving. The treasury, tempting as it might have been, was not only a bad stop, but expressly forbidden by Kel. She was to take the scroll and nothing more. But how to get out? The son’s room beside Takeda’s was at the back of the house, and she could slip out onto the roof from there. At the back of the house, she wouldn’t be seen now that the sun had set, and so it was that she made her way toward it, unlocking Takeda’s door from the inside and shutting it, unlocked again, but only for lack of ability to lock it from the outside. She shot into the previous room, and opened the large shuttered window before easing out onto the roof and shutting it again behind her.

From here, she could begin to climb down the ornate building, and so she did, though only to the second level’s slanted roof. Crouching down, she waited, listening to the voices below and the light of a lantern causing the opaque windows of the second floor to glow softly as the guard passed where she remained crouched, blissfully unaware of her presence on the other side.

Eventually, the sound of dishes being cleaned ceased, and the cook staff returned to their rooms in the outer building. The family sounded to remain in the area below for a time, chattering on and enjoying themselves. The guards in the courtyard began to change shifts, some heading off to sleep while others began their own rounds. If she was fast, she could drop down and duck back into the kitchen. The stairs would shield her from the family’s attention, so she would only need to concern herself with the guards. Peeking over the edge, she watched as the next came around the corner.

She’d watched this one round the corner several times, now. His She would need to land as lightly and as quickly as possible. His eyes were somewhat sunken and his gaze dim. He looked tired; she knew the look well, given she often wore it, herself.

As the samurai passed, Hali dropped off of the stone roof and onto the path below with a soft thud of boots on stone before immediately ducking back into the entrance to the kitchen, just in time for the guard to stop and turn. However, he was slow and not fully alert enough to catch the blur of movement that ducked into the kitchen. To Hali’s benefit, he was also in a sour enough mood to simply grunt in annoyance, rub his eyes and turn to continue his patrol, apparently too tired to care.

Once the next guard walked past, she darted out behind him and made her way to her last and worst obstacle yet: getting back over the wall. The tree had helped her in, but it would not be helping her get back, and she cursed herself for not realising this earlier. Hiding behind the chefs’ quarters in the darkness between them and the wall, she pondered silently to herself. Attempting to scale the wall would take too long and would get her spotted. She could slip around to try getting out the front, but she would need a way past the guards there. Worst yet, she only had so much time before Takeda returned to his room and raised the alarum when he found his new display piece missing. She was trapped until she could figure out another way.

Eventually, she realised, there really was no good way out. She left herself with no route of escape. Kel had intended this as a lesson in and of itself, and she had learned a good deal, she felt, from those few slip-ups, and especially now that she found herself trapped by her own lack of foresight. Reaching for the rope in her satchel, she attached a clawed grapnel to to the end, tying it off tightly and tossing it for the tree from before. With a slow tug, she tested its strength. Silence for the moment was her sign that no one had seen, yet.

She quickly ascended the wall after watching the guards for a moment more. The tree shook, leaves rustling softly in the darkness, but no voices came, and no footsteps approached. The lack of light, for the time being, was on her side, so long as she didn’t make too much noise. As she climbed, she coiled her rope behind her to keep from leaving a trail and so that she could yank the grapnel free and hop down to the other side.

As she crested the wall, a lantern lit one of the chefs’ rooms, the opaque screen glowing a soft yellow, briefly and just barely illuminating her as she yanked her grapnel free and jumped off of the other side of the wall, leaving the tree rustling a little again in the dim light.

“What was that?” Hali heard someone ask, and she swore silently. She began to creep her way around the wall again, quickly, as footsteps approached the other side of the wall to investigate. Her rowboat was on the other side of the island, thankfully. By the time the alarum was raised as Takeda found his scroll missing, she was already rowing on the long trip back toward Kugane. It wasn’t perfect, but she did it, and the scroll was secured. Pride made her grin, even though she knew she could’ve done better.

She hadn’t needed to lay a hand on anyone, and with more practice, she would be like a ghost.

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