Blademaster...? (Open)

[Ryuzaki]

The best assassin…? A sigh almost escaped Ryuzaki’s lips, but he contained it and instead allowed his eyebrows to rise once more. So many thought they could be great assassins… And so many ended up being miserable failures. Better to set reasonable goals and have a positive trend of achievement than to be constantly failing at being superhuman. The sigh then did escape his lips as he thought over his own goal, that lofty idea of an equitable and just world. It, too, was a road of many discouragements. One man could not equalize such a society.

The novice ran off, collected the apple, and returned. Ryuzaki nodded as she came back, beginning to eat it. Food was precious; it was good of her to care about it. For his part, Ryuzaki merely cleaned his swords as she spoke, wiping them carefully, sharpening them, and then replacing them in their sheaths. Quietly, he gave a scoff as she boasted about her potential.

“Bear in mind that potential must be brought forth. A rock does not become a sword through time alone… it requires a skilled smith to draw out the fine metal, discard the impurities, and shape the blade to be sharp and durable. It is a dangerous process. Many pieces of rock are discarded to make one sword.”

And then one more long sigh as the girl asked his name.

“My name is Ryuzaki. Had you met me earlier, I would have gone by the name Near. That is my professional name, and the name that many of my acts have been committed under. Today, I am Ryuzaki. Near is gone, for now. I must find out who I am, and who I must be next.

And what do they call you? Where did you come from, a half-dead girl stumbling with a metal stick in the middle of Sacae, with the nearest landmark the destroyed home of my extinct tribe?”

[Leiva]

   Leiva's grin slowly fell, her demeanor becoming more melancholy, somehow. Her shoulders slumped and she looked away, rubbing her arm. "I'm from nowhere. My village is gone, and this is all I have to show for the life I had before it was destroyed." She jutted a thumb to the bandaged side of her face, a look of rage crossing her face momentarily. "Those bandits took everything from me. They took my instructor, my 'home,' all of it. That's why I wanna get good at fighting. Because I'm sick of getting things taken from me. Because I'm sick of getting kicked down and beaten by life. It owes me, and I'm gonna take from it until we're even." The anger subsided from Leiva, her posture relaxing and her face dropping the hardened expression, replacing it with a softer look. "But, that's not really important. I'm Leiva, and from now on, I'm not gonna be weak anymore, so you can look forward to me surpassing you eventually! So we're gonna work together from now on, okay? I'll make sure to try not to piss you off too much." She grinned and stuck her tongue out, her hands on her hips.  
   Despite her playful and less-than-serious demeanor, Leiva was more happy to have someone in her life than she'd care to admit, even if he was brooding and a bit stoic. A new mentor, a new chance to do something, a new chance to fulfill her ambition, and for that, she couldn't thank Ryuzaki enough.

[Ryuzaki]

So she was a survivor. A remnant, an outcast… debris from a crumbling people, smashed to earth by roaming brigands. She held within her rage, anger, confusion, uncertainty, sadness, pain, and a host of other emotions, churning and bubbling. These could be a tonic, strengthening her and aiding her resolve, or they could become a poison, tying her down and making it impossible for her to become anything more than merely reactive and uncontrolled.

“Control the emotions you feel. Use them as fuel. Remember, the wood you put on a fire is related to its purpose. A log will keep you warm, but multiple are needed to cook game to eat. Too many logs, and you have made a funeral pyre.”

Leiva. An interesting name. And a most interesting claim. She would surpass him eventually? Only time would tell, though the idea at this point was certainly no more than laughable. She was full of words, it seemed, and energy. Well, at least she was making an attempt to be amenable. She would try not to piss him off too much… Hm.

“All right, Leiva. We shall see how this apprenticeship progresses. The first order of business is making our way to a place other than Sacae. Lycia is our best bet, given that there’s quite a lot going on there. If we head through Bulgar, though, we can acquire horses, and I can get you a decent sword made. There’s nothing worse than trying to learn with a terrible tool. So we’ll make our way to Bulgar, get supplies, hardware, and horses, and then travel to Lycia. My permanent home is in Lycia, and there is no shortage of work to do there, be it honorable or dishonorable. Of course, I don’t care either way, but if it is a good job, you will learn much from it. And along the way, we can steal whatever we need. It is good practice.”

[Leiva]

   Leiva had nothing against Ryuzaki's way with words, but occasionally she found herself merely trying to comprehend his complicated, oblique analogies and failing. She thought for a moment about what he'd said about the funeral pyre, opting to crack a joke instead of wasting anymore time with thinking about it. "Well, you have to admit, being inside of a funeral pyre would be really, really warm, at least." She giggled at her own awful joke before clearing her throat and narrowly regaining her composure. 
   Leiva nodded as Ryuzaki went through his list of locations and activities, considering the hardships they would face along the way. His home was in Lycia? Leiva had never been to Lycia. Actually, the few dozen miles she had traveled since her town's erasure was the farthest she'd been from where she was left by her parents for, well, ever. The thought of getting to go to all these new locations and experiencing the cultures excited her. It was not often one was given the opportunity to travel to another region of the continent. However, Leiva hesitated when she heard they were going to be stealing. From a moral aspect, Leiva had no problem doing that; it was how she'd survived all these years. It was the skill aspect of it; she often got overexcited at little things and got too full of herself. Was she suitable to be a professional thief, stealing money and food right out of people's pockets instead of their wastebins and empty homes? She didn't truly know, but she did know that she was going to try at the very least. She couldn't let her new mentor down, especially not when she had done so much boasting as she had previously, no way. Even then, she decided not to concern herself with it. It would be hours at least, days at most before they reached Bulgar at all, and there wasn't exactly a plethora of exciting locales to ransack in the Sacaen plains. "Got it, sir! You won't regret this."

[Ryuzaki]

"Well, you have to admit, being inside of a funeral pyre would be really, really warm, at least."

Ugh. Not only had he taken on a young, overexcited wannabe, she also was a comic. He was trying to caution her on the pitfalls and common dangers she would face, and she simply joked. Well, she was young. Perhaps she would learn with time. If not... well, she would die soon then, and he wouldn't have to worry about it. For now, though, they needed to start moving. Bulgar was still far off, and the assassin didn't quite enjoy just wandering through the grass. He had a mage to find, an arm to get healed by a professional healer, and plenty of work to do figuring out how to use Shinryu to the fullest extent.

"You remind me in part of an old friend. He had that same propensity for making terrible jokes. I suppose it's full circle... I haven't seen him for a while, and now I have met another who shares his defining trait."

Ah, Rogus. Where was the man now? Cunning as a fox and slippery as an eel, his red-cloaked friend had been beside him through many adventures. It was a shame that the two had not reunited in a long time. Ryu would not mind another run around with his old friend, the other thief he truly trusted above all others.

Turning his attention to the horizon, Ryuzaki pointed, his arm extended.

"Bulgar is that way. It will be a few long days' travel, so we should move efficiently and keep a good pace. Come on, Leiva. Take up your sword and we will begin to sail through this sea of grass. New trials await you... we shall see if you can rise to the challenge. I expect much out of you."

And so the assassin set off, the first goal Bulgar and the second goal Lycia. The journey would be another adventure in and of itself, it seemed, with this sword-swinging girl in tow.

[Leiva]

   Leiva gave Ryuzaki a look as he mentioned his friend, furrowing her brow ever so slightly. Her mentor didn't seem the type to reminisce, or think about interpersonal relationships at all, generally, but she dismissed the thought. He was a person too, even if he pretended not to be. She looked ahead to where Ryuzaki was pointing, taking her place at his side and smiling. "I won't disappoint you, sir!" And so, Leiva set off with her new instructor, toward better things.


   Not all was well, however. Several days of grueling travel later, the two continued moving, but Leiva was on edge for a reason she couldn't fully describe. Every movement of the dry, crackling grass sent a wave of anxiety through her limbs, numbing them a little more every time. Her hand instinctively crept to her blade, drawing it. "R-Ryuzaki, I don't think we're alone here," Leiva spoke timidly, her voice rough. 
   She turned swiftly as the grass shuffled, a slim figure clad in brownish, simple dirty clothes emerging from it. "Oh, my. It appears the little one's noticed us. But luckily for her, she and her little guardian here won't have to worry too much about that, ain't that right?" The man raised his hand, his muscles strained as he did so, revealing a large iron axe that glinted in the crisp Sacaen sun. "Attack, men! Their money and their life!" He let out a guffaw as three other brigands rose from the tall grass, two of small stature and lean build. Thieves. The other was taller and carried a much larger blade, clearly quick on his feet and with his blade.  
   The felons fanned out, the tall, blade-wielding man charging at Ryuzaki along with one of the thieves, the former sidestepping and delivering a quick lateral strike to the assassin's abdomen, while the latter drew a dagger from his waist, grabbing for Ryuzaki's wrist as he attempted to deliver a quick stab to the upper thigh. Meanwhile, the other thief ran at Leiva, the leader motionless.
   Leiva stepped back, panic overtaking her for a few long, unbearable moments as the quick, stout man came at her, but she held her ground, leveling her blade in just the stance that she had been using all along. The thief came at Leiva, stepping immediately into her range and drawing a dagger from his waist, thrusting it toward her chest. She attempted to quickly sidestep, but the speed of the attack overtook her and opened a short lateral laceration across the joint of her shoulder. She cried out in pain but ignored the burning sensation in her arm, stepping into a new stance and turning her waist as she brought the heavy blade up at a 45 degree angle across the bandit's chest, his own speed outweighing hers. He leaped back deftly, the blade grazing across his chest, creating a long but shallow cut across his chest, wincing as the cold blade glided across his flesh. As the bandit hit the ground, he stepped back, catching his breath and touching the graze. Leiva took this as an opportunity, running at the foe opposite her and stopping just ahead of him before leveling the blade horizontally and sending it forward, throwing her weight into the strike and pivoting her wrists as she stabbed, the thief caught off guard, but not entirely flat-footed. He feinted to the left, just barely avoiding the edge of the sword before lunging forward and and striking horizontally across Leiva's abdomen, the blade cutting into her flesh. She stepped back too late, groaning in pain as the sword cut her, still forcing the pain out of her mind, stepping forward and adding a rising lateral strike from the left toward the felon's armpit, the weapon sinking into the soft flesh of the underside of the thief's arm, him yelling in agony and staggering backwards. Leiva sensed an opportunity and stepped forward, ignoring the screaming pain in her shoulder and stomach, bringing down a powerful overhead strike on the thief as he was off-balance, off-guard, too slow to effectively dodge. He looked up as her blade came down, the weapon cleaving the felon down the center. He fell backwards, motionless.
   Leiva maintained her stance, the adrenaline of the situation still coursing through her veins. Her arms were numb, her clothing clinging to her flesh from the hot sweat building up on her back, shoulders, face and arms. She slowly lowered her sword and gulped in deep breaths, desperately trying to calm down, failing. She shook her head and threw herself out of her panicked state and looked over to Ryuzaki, making sure he had control of the situation. 

[Ryuzaki]

The traveling had been uneventful, as most trips through the sea of grass were. They had drawn near to Bulgar, and as they approached the city, its outline visible far off on the horizon, the young woman who had been following him spoke up, a note of concern in her voice.

"R-Ryuzaki, I don't think we're alone here."

The assassin felt the same way, and his nerves were on high alert, though he continued to move as he had been for a while. Brigands hiding in the grasses were not uncommon, especially near the city. They often hunted in small packs and tried to mug unsuspecting travelers, killing them if they posed a problem or put up a struggle.

"Oh, my. It appears the little one's noticed us. But luckily for her, she and her little guardian here won't have to worry too much about that, ain't that right? Attack, men! Their money and their life!"

There were four men total. The axe-wielding leader made no movement, preferring to let his lackeys handle the work. There were two coming towards him, and one towards Leiva. Ryuzaki hoped the younger and less experienced swordswoman would be able to handle herself; he had no time to use babysitting her. They had begun to attack. One man, who looked to be using a heavier blade, struck forth from the left as another came from the right, trying to get in a quick shot with a dagger he had drawn. The attack was poorly coordinated, beginning too far away and with the assailants too far apart and nowhere near in synchrony.

The assassin drew no sword, instead fluttering his hands into his bandolier under his cloak and back out, hurling two knives in quick succession and then wielding another two, peppering the charging swordsman with the two well-aimed projectiles. They seemed to sprout from his abdomen like twin saplings emerging from the ground, and he staggered as he continued to lurch forward. Ryuzaki was already moving, advancing towards the dagger-wielding man and clashing blades with him as the foe drew another dagger to match Ryu. They each whipped their small weapons back and forth, briefly scuffling, as Ryu defensively parried the brigand's sloppy strikes, keeping watch out of the corner of his eye. When he saw the other man raise his weapon once more, he pivoted and dove, rolling backwards underneath the downward strike and coming up in a crouch behind the swordsman, whose momentum had driven the sword into the ground. Ryuzaki jumped, rising from the crouch, and drove his feet into the bent bandit's back, letting his body weight and the brigand's disrupted center of gravity work in tandem to drive the foe into the ground, pushing the two daggers in him even deeper and causing him to writhe on the ground in pain. He would be a threat no longer.

Now with only one opponent, Ryu gave a quick glance and saw Leiva finish off her attacker, her weapon coming down like a guillotine to cut deeply through the man's face and upper torso. That would be the end of him as well. Now, back to business.

Twirling his daggers, Ryu charged the other bandit, who took the opportunity to throw something at Ryuzaki. The thief pushed off his left foot, driving his body to the right, and glimpsed a sort of pouch, like a wineskin, hit the ground, before he was forcibly thrown backwards, blown by a strong gust of concentrated wind into the ground, where he coughed, regaining his breath and rising to his feet to see his foe now targeting Leiva. Ryuzaki growled angrily, rising to his feet slowly, and then began to approach the novice as well. The thief would get there first, but Ryu would be close behind to back her up.

[Leiva]

   Leiva looked on in exhausted bewilderment as Ryuzaki expertly defeated the first assailant, albeit being a bit put off by the sadistic manner in which he did so. She drew up her sword once more as the thief came surging toward her, his speed bewildering. Her mentor was close behind him, catching up quickly, but Leiva needed to defend herself in the meantime. The bandit came running at her, his light, quick steps kicking up dust, his hand swiftly gripping his dagger and unsheathing it. He stopped just in front of her and lunged forward, the blade whistling through the air as it headed toward her neck. It felt like everything was moving in slow motion to Leiva; she was so exhausted, but she needed to move. She had to. Move, damn it, move! Her tired muscles burned in pain as she forced them to work, stepping to the side and leveling her sword at the thief's waist, thrusting forward. The thief was capable of dodging the move and did, jumping to the side, but Leiva's aim was not to hit him; instead, Ryuzaki was now well beyond close enough to attack the thief. She stepped back and let her arms fall, her hands barely able to keep gripping the sword. Her breath was heavy and grating against her dry, pained throat.
    The bandit leader was getting increasingly uncomfortable, chewing his gums as his men fell one by one. He raised his axe and rested it on his shoulder, stepping back and turning around, slowly beginning to retreat before breaking into a run. Leiva noticed, but didn't care. Her objective wasn't to kill anyone, it was just to end the fight.

[Ryuzaki]

It appeared that his new student had reached her limits, barely able to dodge the ridiculously choreographed attack and stumbling to the side, her guard dropping and her sword tip dropping to her feet. Well, at least she had contributed. It was something positive, really. Vincent was like this when he first worked with Ryu, and now look at him. A fighter and swordsman of his own right and title. She was certainly trying, that was for sure. Now, it was time for him to intervene and finish this battle.

As he closed the last of the distance, moving to about two meters away, his hands sheathed the daggers in his bandolier and brought forth Shinryu, the blade sparkling with blood as it arced through the air, slicing across the man's back. He roared in anger, turning to face Ryuzaki and ignoring the pain of the shallow slice. Raising his daggers, he moved forward to take on the assassin, but suddenly stopped, falling onto his hands and knees and beginning to cough and vomit blood. From her angle, Leiva would be able to clearly see the cut, turning black and festering as if infected, filled with vile poison. The bile and blood now dripping from the man's eyes, nose, and trickling from his mouth as he struggled to stagger forward was blackening, and Ryuzaki's own eyes were wider than normal as he witnessed the power of Shinryu. The blade moved once more, and Ryuzaki stabbed the bandit through, his eyes widening more as he saw the trickles of blood dry up. He pulled his weapon forth, and the man's dry body fell backwards, no blood coming from his wounds. Indeed, it appeared that Shinryu had taken it all in, absorbing it magically as if sucking in life.

"Are you all right? Here. Use this vulnerary on your wounds, and keep the remainder. It's a good medicine to carry on you."

[Leiva]

   Leiva looked on as Shinryu took it's effect on the poor bandit, the contents of her stomach crawling up her esophagus. Her eyes widened and she turned around, doubling over and emptying the last meal meal she ate onto the ground. After she had finished retching and convulsing, she sat down rather ungracefully, turning herself toward the assassin as she wiped her mouth. She stared up at Ryuzaki, took the vulnerary, and lifted her cloak, rubbing it into the cut on her shoulder, the herb soothing the wound. She sighed in relief and looked down. "That was amazing, but also, really, really disgusting." She grinned and began applying the medicine to the cut across her stomach. "I wanna learn how to kill people like that!" She looked up at Ryuzaki, still smiling, her cheerful tone as she said the words scaring even her. But oddly, not too much. The way that the man's eyes widened as he relinquished his life, how he fell once the poison took him, it excited her. It was intriguing.
    After a short while applying the medicine, she stood up and cranked her shoulders, stretching her fingers and arms. She picked up her sword and sheathed it, the adrenaline of the situation gone, the exhaustion hitting her like a dump truck. She was suddenly aware of the numbness in her arms, how her hands shook, her scratchy throat, that her tongue couldn't find a comfortable place in her mouth. She was aware of how her clothes weighted her flesh down, and she wanted to pass out and fall asleep, but she couldn't. She didn't want to. So she stood, and pretended that she wasn't exhausted.

[Ryuzaki]

The young swordswoman let forth her lunch, collapsing on the ground and breathing heavily for a little while before she regained her composure. What had happened to her? It was not as if he had struck her with Shinryu, and as far as he knew she had not been hit by any blood spray or anything like that. How peculiar.

"That was amazing, but also, really, really disgusting. I wanna learn how to kill people like that!"

The assassin chuckled as he cleaned and sheathed his weapons, retrieving his daggers from the dead bandit before stowing those away. Before he resheathed Shinryu, he held it up for the novice to see, turning it over in his hands and then slotting it away firmly.

"The first step to that goal is to get a firm grasp on the fundamentals. Then you can become more skilled in the art of swordplay and the concepts of killing, and then, finally... You will need a magical sword exactly like Shinryu in order to kill in that same way. But if you merely speak of killing with poise, with grace and style and efficiency, then I can help you achieve that goal. We will continue to train, continue to do battle, and you will continue to grow stronger. It is a progression, a road you must travel. There are no shortcuts, so all of your abilities will come from you. Your own strength, your own will, your own intelligence. You are responsible for your own successes or defeats."

Ryuzaki looked at the girl, who was clearly about to fall over from sheer exhaustion.

"Sit. We'll rest for a bit so that you can recover. In the meantime, I'll teach you about my goals and my philosophy.

My dream, the one thing I hope to truly accomplish, is to equalize the world. Though it is likely impossible, I hope to make a contribution by killing nobles, by trying to forcefully level the playing field if only by a small amount. Together, we will infiltrate a Lycian noble's estate, steal his prized possessions, and kill him to make a statement. If it goes well, we might even consider killing multiple. But you'll have to train hard and learn well, or we will be doomed to failure."

[Leiva]

    "I got a laugh! Yes! I thought you literally couldn't laugh." Leiva's grin widened. She put her hands on her hips as she listened to Ryuzaki's words, nodding along with them. "Of course I know that, I just wanna get as good as you, sir. I wanna be able to fight like that!" She pumped her arms, Ryuzaki's fighting still fresh in her mind. The grace, the speed, the power, it amazed her. She'd never seen anyone battle like that in her entire life. It seemed impossible in her mind, but under this man's instruction, could she actually learn to become that powerful? She hoped so.
    Leiva gladly took Ryuzaki's invitation to sit, practically falling on her behind in the coarse dust of the plains. Leiva listened to the assassin's ambitions and processed them in her mind. He was right; those were some lofty goals indeed. But they seemed noble, and not so far fetched that they were completely impossible. She swallowed as Ryuzaki spoke of his expectations of her; to infiltrate a Lycian noble's estate, assassinate him, steal his belongings, and escape unscathed? That seemed fine for Ryuzaki, but the novice was intimidated. But she wouldn't back down. She could do anything. "I'll do both of those! I'm a quick learner, you know, and I will not disappoint you, sir. I'll do my best, and maybe one day, I'll get as good as you! But until then, I won't fail."

[Ryuzaki]

Ryuzaki shook his head in bemused and gentle exasperation with the young girl. She was so energetic about becoming a vicious, skillful killer, and at the same time had such an incompatible personality with assassins' work. She seemed more like the type to become a Rogue, like his associate Charlotte, but still had the bubbly and outgoing spirit of a Cleric of the damned swindler Elimine. It was truly a confusing business.

"Control that enthusiasm and channel it into your art. Make sure you practice only good habits and constantly challenge yourself. That is the path to skill and power in combat."

As he explained the ultimate goal to Leiva, he saw a flicker of uncertainty flash across her face. Maybe even fear. She swallowed, and Ryuzaki's suspicions were confirmed. The novice was indeed intimidated by the prospect of a full-on assassination. As she should be. That was no easy task for Ryuzaki, and it was nigh impossible for the girl in her present state. There would be a lot of training and fighting before they would be fit to work together to take down a noble.

"Your words speak of confidence, but your body betrays your fear. That too we will work on, so that you can control what you display and always keep your opponents guessing. When you are in their head, and they cannot see into yours, you hold a strong tactical advantage. But do not worry. We will not be taking on a job so difficult and demanding for quite a while. If I'm correct in my assumptions, you haven't ever used a lockpick before, or snatched a purse. Both of those are skills you need to learn, and are foundations for other, more advanced assassins' arts.

There are many arts, in my assessment. The basics are thievery, which requires the ability to steal from an alert and conscious target and the knowledge to pick locks of all kinds, and from there we move into the killing arts. There is silent killing, the basic assassination, ranged killing, with daggers and knives, nontraditional fighting, to overcome an opponent stronger than you in traditional styles, and statement killing... which is designed to send a message. All of these will become tools at your disposal."

[Leiva]

   Leiva nodded along with Ryuzaki's words. "Yeah, yeah, control yourself and stuff. But I just can't help it, you know? And besides, so long as I'm good at my job, nobody I target will really be alive long enough to take advantage of that." Leiva laughed and leaned back, planting her hands in the dust for support. "...You'd be right about that. I have stolen before, but mostly from empty houses and people's garbagebins. And even then, only the necessities and stuff. Aside from that, though, it's good to hear I don't have to start worrying about murdering prominent political figures juuuust yet." She thought about Ryuzaki's mentions of different styles of combat and killing, mulling over them in her mind. She hadn't really experiment with anything; she hadn't had the time, money, or inclination. But now that she had motivation, maybe she could start. Silent killing seemed like it would be effective, but not all that much fun. There'd be no adrenaline, sense of danger, it just seemed... boring. Of course, she'd do it anyway; it wasn't as if it was that detestable, but she figured ranged killing would be more rewarding at the very least. It seemed to her that getting the technique down perfectly coupled with the actual satisfaction of the kill would be fairly enjoyable. 
   But Leiva was getting ahead of herself. Ryuzaki had stated that the basics were thievery before you could even go into the semantics of calculated assassination, and so she attempted to anchor her mind to this subject instead of going too far beyond. "So, when can we start teaching me to steal, and stuff? It'd be pretty useful, I think. Plus, I can nab myself a new pair of boots!" The novice giggled, still smiling despite her exhaustion.

[Ryuzaki]

Ryuzaki shook his head once more. Only experience would teach Leiva the error of her overconfidence, it seemed. But that was his job... to warn her and expose her safely to the dangers and pitfalls of his craft, so that she would have an opportunity to rise within the ranks of the assassins. She was beginning at the baseline, and now it was time for her to begin her journey upward. It would be a long, difficult climb... would she rise to the occasion, or fall from grace?

"Take this, then. It is a lockpick. One of my old ones, but still in fine shape. I've crafted more, but try not to lose or break it. It's your own, and if you want another or a different style, you'll need to learn and craft one yourself. For now, that should help you master the fundamentals. Essentially... hell, it's easier to show you and have you practice it, so don't worry about that for now."

Leiva was quite energetic, putting up a good front despite her slightly drooped posture, indicating her fatigue. It was too early in the day to stop, though, so they continued on, advancing at a comfortable walking pace towards the city in the distance. They would probably make it by nightfall if they kept a steady pace, or at the very latest by morning.

"We can begin whenever. You have a sword, but no one cuts purses with a sword."

The assassin tossed her one of the knives the bandit had been using, the rough-hewn weapon arcing lazily as it wobbled end over end through the air.

"Here. Take this knife for use when you're cutting purses. Now you have a sword for combat, a knife for general use, and a lockpick. Basic tools. You'll need quiet boots, which can be bought or stolen, a cloak, which can also be bought or stolen, and nimble fingers, which you'll have to develop. We'll start by having you steal small things. Fruit, maybe goods you can conceal from a shop, a handful of coins from a loose purse. Once you're confident and capable, you can start on bigger things. All in stages."