An Unexpected Change of Plans (Raina)

[Sigma]

Sigma had arrived at the castle city Taras for a few days now... Well technically he had sneaked in. Was it stupid? Yes. Did he leave without alerting the rest of the resistance? Also, yes. This lack of wisdom from his part was because he felt as he needed to pull his weight more around the base. How amazing would it be if he could go find information about the Etrurian army's plan? Taras was the last major city before leaving the country so there was likely a very high chance Sigma would be able to find a military officer or any kind of lead to get his hands on some classified documents considering the Etrurian's army pretty active schedule these last few months. For these last few days, he was doing what he did best, gathering intel. The first thing he did was "borrow" some clothes from a merchant so he could pass off as a travelling merchant for now, that way getting info out of people would be easier. He had reached the point in his investigation where he had heard about a possible target who was working in the city. Apparently he was a strategist of the army who would regularly give his advice to the officers. Sigma was also happy to hear he didn't travel with the army and prefered to use messengers and carrier pigeons due to his advanced age.

Locating his house in the upper area of the walled city, he decided to stay low until a sign of his presence would appear. Lucky for him, a few food stalls were set up a bit down the roads with some tables for customers. He could probably stay there for a while without dragging unnecessary attention to himself. Sitting down, he ordered a pint of ale and started to take out his notepad, scribling down ideas and schematics of how he would break in. Visualisation is the best way to prepare for a heist after all...

Not really paying attention to the others around him, Sigma simply continued to quietly wait for his target to show itself. Not needing to keep his disguise anymore, he wore his regular adventuring clothes with his two swords on his back. Better be prepared if somehting went wrong.

[raina]

The sound of her boots clacked against the ground as she walked down the path. She was new in town, having left her home due to the unsettling circumstances that led her to her new lonely life. Her long pink hair dancing in the wind with the ferocity of the wind. She looked up towards the graying sky and stared with her crimson eyes. "A storm is coming, but how long will it last?" She said in an ominous but angelic like voice. Standing at a small five foot two inches this strange beauty stood in the middle of the town just staring at the sky. She sighed as she crossed her arms against her chest, causing her breasts to bounce a little, unknowingly to her. Clad against her curvy form was a white dress that hung off her upper arms, barely covering her assets. Hanging off of her belt is a yellow and white tome, clearly indicating she is a mage.

She walked down the path towards the food stalls, her belly rumbling. She could not remember the last time she ate something. It had been a long trip from Aqualeia. She noticed an adventurer of sorts sitting there scribbling down some notes. She wondered if maybe he needed some help. She felt her face flush with shyness as she walked up to him and said, "Excuse.. me... sir. Are.. are you in.. need of assistance?" She fidgeted a little as she tried her best to see if he needed help. She really needed to make some money for food, and she hoped this man was not up to anything shady.

[Sigma]

God, why did a storm have to start right now? Oh hold on... Nobody would hear me breaking open a window if I do it when it rains..., he thought to himself as new plans kept appearing in his head. He certainly hoped nobody besides him lived there otherwise things might become complicated... Eh, not like he didn't anywhere else to be. Orcleous was going to punish him probably just as badly if he left for an extra day or two.

Making plans of how the rooms could possibly be laid out with what he could tell from the small windows, Sigma didn't notice the person walking up to him. He kept his relaxed appearance despite that, trying to not drag anymore attention to him. He did however flip to a new page to try and hide his notes. The way she had called him definitly made him laugh a bit afterwards:

"Heh, sir? Man, never thought somebody would actually feel it appropriate to refer to me as such..."

As he stopped looking at the notebook, he slowly lifted his head to see the face of an embarassed looking young woman, probably about four or five years younger than Sigma if he had to guess. Seeing the tome on her hip was enough to tell that she wasn't a simple villager, an acolyte? Didn't know they were so altruistic that they go out to find people to help just like that... Curious about this pink-haired girl, he decided to engage in coversation. Also if he just brushed her off, it would look strange to bypassers. Looking as plain as possible was the best way to not get caught... Though with this girl and her alluring figure, not being noticed would be pretty hard. I should probably see what she wants before trying to go steal that intel.

"What I need help with is figuring out why I look like somebody who needs help. Heh, why don't you take a seat, I don't have anything better to do anyways, would you like me to order you something?"

Just act normal Sigma, be nice and don't give her any hints about what you're doing. Better to involve the least amount of people into this.

[raina]

She felt the first droplet of rain descend from the sky and hit her on the cheek. She quickly sat next to the man, hiding underneath the wooden awning of the food cart as the rain started to pour from the heavens. She looked down at the cart's table top and blushed as the man offered to order her something. "I.. I do not have much gold. I was hoping you needed help with a job or something so I could afford food." She said as she placed her her fingers together cutely. "You looked like an adventurer, was I wrong? And I know... I know I do not look like much but I am a capable acolyte." She continued as her hair fell in her face covering her eye. She quickly swept the hair behind her ear and looked at the man shyly. "If.. if you would not mind, would you order me something and I could assist you somehow to pay it back?" She said as her face filled with a deep red blush and she looked back down at the table top.

She did not like the feeling of asking a stranger for help. She was never someone that relied on others especially if it made her a nuisance. She grabbed her tome from her belt and held it to her chest. It was the one thing in this world that made her feel comfortable. A gift from her father before he passed. She sighed as she waited for the dreaded answer from the man. She really wanted to do something to help, but on the other hand, she was super hungry.

[Sigma]

She wants me to hire her!!?! Sigma would've spitted up his ale if he wasn't trying to keep a low profile. Man, now wasn't the time for this. There's no way in hell that an acolyte of Etruria would want to help him steal some intel about their own military... Hmm, but would she even need to know? Interesting, he thought looking over quickly at the strategist's home. Being hungry probably meant she would accept doing just about anything so Sigma decided to give it a try:

"Well... I guess you could do me a solid with a thing... You see that house over there?" he said, pointing to the house. He then looked at the woman, smirking slightly. "If you would be so kind, could you please check up on the man who lives there? Let's say I need to get something of mine in there and I'd like you to keep him distracted for a bit while I retrieve what's rightfully mine. Five minutes should be enough. Don't ask me any questions and I'll buy you whatever meal you want."

Looking at her with a semi-serious look, he was almost expecting her to run away when he pretty much asked her to help him steal something. Unless of course she actually believed the whole "retrieval of personal goods" story. He was also betting that she'd accept because of how hungry she was. Readjusting his badanna over his head, he then continued by saying:

"Just five little minutes and that's it. I hope that's okay with you? The name's Sigma by the way, we can continue this little conversation when we're done how does that sound?"

You're playing a risky game Sigma, just make sure you do this properly.

[raina]

He wanted her to what!? She quickly got up from her chair knocking it over towards the ground with a crash. She took a step back and gripped her tome lightly against her chest as she suddenly got very serious. "What are you really after? If you want me to do this you need to be honest with me and then we will see. I do not like liars. I detest the act of lying, and I would rather starve than help with something shady." She says as she flipped her hair behind her shoulder. Suddenly her stomach growled loudly and she went back to her blushing embarrassed face. "Please, just tell me what is going on, I promise I will not judge if it is something bad."

She sighed as she realized she harshly judged this man for what he asked, he could be telling her the truth. "Forgive me, I have not met anyone honest with me since I left home, it has been a harsh few weeks since I left home. You just need me to distract him right? I think I can do that. I will do my best!" She says with a bright smile and walks over to house completely oblivious to the fact it was pouring rain and her dress was white. She knocked on the door and smiled as it opened revealing a grizzly warrior who looked like some sort of strong knight. She blushed a little as she looked up at the man towering over her. She held both hands in front of her cutely completely missing the fact that her dress was soaked and was not covering much of anything and said, "Excuse me sir, I am quite lost and really do not know where I am, is there an inn nearby?" She said cutely as the man looked at her with a weird uncomfortable look on his face.

"Sure... miss.. let me show you." The man said as he closed the door and walked her down to the inn. "Hopefully this will give the man time to get his stuff. Surely this was not a mistake to help him." She thought to herself.

[Sigma]

Aaaannnndd... hunger had won over her morality. Good. As Sigma watched her walk off towards the house in the rai-Oh god does she not realise she's wearing white clothing? This is might just be too good of a distraction... Welp, at least I'll have my five minutes.

Dashing towards the house, he saw that the man had left it unlocked. Gods, men really are stupid when in presence of a beautiful woman... Entering the house, Sigma quickly got to work. He headed straight for the stairs where he assumed the man's room must be. After unlocking the bedroom with his lockpicks, he entered without wasting another moment. Luckily, he had hit right on the money when he saw the desk inside of the room. Paperwork was strewn about the place almost as if a tornado had passed by. Starting to comb over every info he could get, he wondered if she'd be able to keep him busy long enough... He did NOT want to find himself in his room when that giant would come back. He wished the rumors could've also told him not just about his age, but his physical strength as well... Finally finding something interesting, battle tactics used by the army, Sigma quickly stuffed the paper into his stachel before leaving the room. Not wanting to have another chance of people seeing him come out the main door, especially the owner of the house... Sigma decided to climb down out of the window. Making sure he didn't slip because of the rain, he slowly lowered himself to a height where he could simply jump into the alleyway and go back to the food stall, where the girl would probably go meet back up with him.

He decided to order the food in advance since the job was completed. Looking around, it seemed like nobody noticed him going him. Probably because Miss white clothes was keeping everybody's eyes busy.... Speaking of which, he saw her coming back not long after he had finished his job. Looking at her now soaked robe, he decided to reach for his satchel again and pull out the merchant clothes he had used before. It was better than nothing and Sigma wasn't going to simply watch her lose all dignity like that. As she got closer he handed her the loose wool shirt before saying:

"Good job. Here, you should probably wear this before people start to gawk even more..."

Inviting her to take a seat, he followed with a question:

"So, I think I forgot to ask you your name back there... Sorry about that, didn't mean to be rude."

Sigma decided he could stop with the smug attitude for now. The job was done, no need to act all "mastermind" for now.

(Sigma abandons thread because of lack of response)