Its Not so Cold...

[chase]

Chase dropped out of the roof and landed behind the two guards in front of him. His sword flashing from his hand, slicing down the back of one of the soldiers, his body falling limp to the ground without so much as a groan.

The other turned on his heel, his eight foot ash spear whirling to his front, but in a second Chase was within his attacking circle and struck his through with his sword twice before the soldier knew what was happening. His eyes went blank and he fell to the ground, Chase holding the spear so it didn't make a noise as it hit the stone ground.

He looked up and down the hallway of the Naval fort barracks. They had done well to infiltrate so far in such a short amount of time, but Chase was here only to find out who their new ruler was and get out again. A small pirate ship was waiting for them.

He was garbed in night black attire, his baslisk armour hidden beneath a fold of his cloak, the hood pulled up over his head and a black cloth around the lower part of his face.

"Alright Poker! Lets go!" he whispered loudly back up into the hole in the roof...

[Poker]

[ooc: Basilisk armour on a stealth mission? That would be pretty heavy and cumbersome. . .]

Poker jumped down and landed as silently as could be possible on the the stone floor. He walked bare foot, knowing that wearing his normal boots would only create unwanted noise. Like Chase, he was wearing full black clothing. His cloak was not designed like a cape specifically so that it wouldn't flap around. It was a suit of stealth, and there was no doubt about that.

Poker landed in a slightly crouched position before standing beside Chase. He was dimly aware of Archer landed behind him.

He couldn't have kept the dog away if he had tried. The damn thing would have followed him anywhere. Luckily enough, it hadn't made a single noise since they had landed on Isla de Meuna, as if her was trying to prove a point to Poker.

The dog also landed quickly, with padded paws, it could often be a silent predator, like the two men standing in the dimly lit corridor.

Poker enjoyed this type of mission, as it required little talking. Which was something Poker had grown to appreciate with the strain that it put on his injured neck.

[chase]

ooc: Its not heavy, because only a thin sheet of it will do the same job as normal steel... technically its lighter and quieter... thats why i had it made in the first place. And thats also why I only kept it thin because he would have to be quite... its not like heaps thick like Khalora's

Chase flattened himself against a wall, hiding the blade of his drawn sword under his cloak to limit its reflection in the dim light. Okay, Chase thought to himself. He had been here before, some time ago... he just had to remember which way it was to the Supreme Lord's quarters. Through the inner wall beside the fourth guard tower, into the grand hall and through the tower doors at the back. He had closed his eyes in thought but he knew where was going now.

He turned to Poker and used a finger to indicate for him to follow. Horus swept through the hole in the roof above and landed in Chase's sword arm. "Scout," He whispered to the hawk, and as he was trained he flew off to the corner to scout out the way.

And so it was that Chase was creeping through the halls, half-sliding along the walls at a quick pace with Horus flapping his silent way in front of him and with poker behind him...

[Poker]

Poker narrowed his eyes looking up and down the hallway. It was quiet, but Poker was smarter than to believe that. If he closes his eyes, he could hear the bootsteps of guards echoing from halls far away or close by, but never close enough to be a threat. They had killed the guards that were on duty here.

The stone underneath Poker's feet was cold, like the waters of the Navy, as if it was rejecting his feet and trying to make him turn around. Instead, Poker forced himself to put one foot in front of the other, completely silently, rejecting the cold from himself, and banishing it back into the stones where it would remain for eternity.

Archer was as silent as Poker, walking behind him. Poker knew the dog would hear and smell more than Poker would ever be able to. Poker trusted that Archer would be able to notify him of anything approaching from the back, and probably from the front too. But Poker was confident that Horus would see any guards there. What would happen then? Poker wondered as he leaned against the wall, watching Chase in front of him, for the slightest sign of trouble. One foot. Another foot. What if the guards saw Horus? Horus couldn't kill more than one quick enough to snuff out alarm. . .

Poker walked further, always staying just one step behind Chase. Just putting one foot in front of another.

[chase]

Chase came to a large corner and propped his back against the cold stone. The darkness was almost absolute... almost. Horus circled around behind him and settled on the warrior's shoulder. Chase leant his head around and saw the familiar long opening before two massive oak doors which lead to the grand hall. The problem was that it was so open. If they were seen there then it would become difficult for Chase to control the alarm.

That wasn't even going to start mentioning the guards stationed in front of the supreme lord's chamber doors. Plus whatever naval men were in the hall for any specific reason, although he hadn't heard anything about a function yet.

Chase leant back and whispered to Chase almost silently, he could barely hear the words himself so he said them slowly and deliberately, "Alright. Two choices. Through the doors all swords flashing, or we can take a much longer route around the back and up a long climb... but its probably safer."

In truth, Chase knew of the laundry chute from the supreme lord's chamber which was on the far side of the hall. It would be safer than going into the hall... but they'd still have to go through at least two patrols. And Chase didn't feel like bringing the whole naval down around their ears...

[Poker]

"You're leading this patrol." Poker said, keeping the irritation out of his voice. "You're the only one out of the two of us that have been to this Fort."

Archer could have been a ghost for all the sound he made, but Poker could hear something, something else. Perhaps it was outside. Poker wasn't sure, but he could hear a voice talking loudly.

Was it a sermon? A public speech? If so, it would be their ticket to a safer infiltration. But still, Poker's curiousity prickled around him.

[chase]

"If you're going to get arrogant you may as well head back now," Chase replied, seeing Poker's lack of team work and co-operation. He turned back to the doors and listened intently, hearing a man speaking in a rough voice, although it was only the edge of perception, and he couldn't make out any words.

"We'll head to the surface and go in through the laundry chute." Chase double-checked the open space and then ran lightly and quietly across the hall in front of the massive doors the the other side where the main corridor continued on unhindered, curving around the left ever so slightly. "Follow me!" he whispered back to Poker, Horus sitting intently on Chase's shoulder.

He eyed the stairwell a long way down the corridor and saw two guards stationed there, talking in low voices. They couldn't sneak up on them without being noticed due to the flickering torches on the sides of the walls. Chase pulled out his crossbow and lined up one of the soldiers with the loaded weapon. "Do you have a bow?"

[Poker]

Poker was about to argue with Chase, but decided better of it. he wouldn't lower himself to the petty quips of his comrade. It would make no difference anyway. He had been in arguments with him before. Perhaps when they didn't need to be stealthy anymore he would continue the argument.

"Should we see who's talking?" Poker asked, his voice an urgent whisper. "It could be the Supreme Lord, and if we can know what we are planning we will return home with double what we left for and more."

Archer was sitting now, a constant watchtower against the engulfing darkness of the corridor they had walked down. Nothing could sneak up on this watchtower. Fires burned it its eyes and it could see further than any human might.

"No," Poker said, thinking Chase would have already noticed that he only carried two swords. "But I'm sure you will shoot them. Just make it quick, we can't afford an alarm raised with a possible army hanging around."

[chase]

Chase looked back at Poker, his crossbow still trained hard on the first naval soldier. "Sneak up to the grand hall Poker. Don't be seen and try and see who it is who is talking. and what they are talking about," He listened in the darkness, but the voice was hardly a murmur through those huge, thick doors. "Almost sounds like their advisory board, but I can't tell."

He shook his shoulder a little, knocking the peregrin falcon into the air silently, "Horus, eyes." The bird quickly fluttered and then fired through the air towards one of them men. Chase locked his sights on the other and pulled the trigger. A slight thudding and the bolt was through the man's eye almost before it had left the bow, embedding itself in the stone behind him. His comrade looked at him in sudden surprise, a nanosecond before the beak of Horus slammed into his temple and he dropped to the floor, limp as a rag, if not dead then he would be soon.

"Don't worry. They won't be getting back up, and now we have our way out." Chase reloaded his crossbow and knelt into the wall to cover Poker...

[Poker]

Poker, hunched over and barefoot, made less noise than a ghost as he ran lightly across the walls of the grand hall to try and see who was talking. Archer was behind him somewhere, but Poker couldn't pinpoint exactly where as his padded feet made less noise than Poker's.

In a matter of seconds, there was only a door between Poker and the assembled mass of naval soldiers. He couldn't have been sure what they were talking about even here. The door was so thick, and the stone of the fort kept all noise within the room.

Poker hoped to god the door wouldn't creak, and pushed it, ever so gently to see. It didn't make a noise. Poker breathed out heavily in a silent sight and pushed the door open further, just enough for the noise to escape. He didn't need to know who was talking, just what the subject matter was. The hinges were good, and the door made no noise that was audible over the now loud voice of the Naval Speaker. Poker wondered if even Chase could hear it, now that the sound had a route to escape into the other rooms.

As Poker listened, his eyes narrowed. He wasn't quite sure what they meant. The main point that he could pick up was that the army was mobilising.
The Navy are preparing to invade Teer! Poker thought for a heart-stopping moment. But luckily enough, they were trying to capture something on the Isla.
What? Poker could have screamed, but he had more self control than that.
It was a hunt, were they hunting someone? Or something?

Poker's questions were answered. They were searching for an amtheyst of some kind. Poker only found himself confused. Why would the navy mobilise its army to find a gem?

Poker looked back towards Chase, closing the door most of the way as he did, to see if he had any idea what this amethyst was.

[chase]

Chase had heard most of what was being said inside, which was unsettling in that he wondered how far the sound would echo down the long halls. "An amethyst?" he whispered calmly to Poker as he crept closer. "These naval rats sound almost like pirates."

But not even pirates would assemble their entire armies in search of one stone. Unless...

"Poker, I think that they might know about our assault today," He turned his head sharply when he heard the scrape of chairs and the clatter of tables dimly from within the room. The door was still open the tiniest fraction. Get out of here Chase!

"Poker! Quickly, the stairwell," Chase glided along the floor towards the stairs and leant in, aiming his crossbow up and seeing if there were any guards. A soft thunk and the hiss of a bolt through the air. Well, they're aren't any guards now.

"Follow me, we need to get topside," Chase lead the way up the stairs three at a time...

[Poker]

"How could they know about our assualt?" Poker asked, in a frantic whisper as he hurried towards the stairs.

Poker was confused. What did their infiltration have to do with an amethyst? Poker didn't understand, but just the knowledge that they could know about Pirates within their fort was enough to make Poker's feet travel lightly and quickly along the ground without his body growing weary.

The stairs seemed to continue forever, and to Poker it always seemed that around every spiral they were going to run into guards, but whoever was supposed to be guarding here was down at the meeting.

Finally, Poker reached the night air. The stars were numerous and forever within the midnight blue sky and there was no cloud to diminish the picture perfect night. But Poker had no time to admire the sky. The fact that there were no clouds meant that there was more light. Lucky Poker dressed in black and his hair dark. But that wasn't enough.

Poker crouched low so no eyes were drawn to him and turned back to Chase. "This doesn't make any sense!" He breathed.

[chase]

He turned to Chase quickly, "Think about it, they're massing their armies at the Fort. You can see the ships when you look over the battlements there," he pointed to the side of the wall. He had glanced over when he had come out of the tower stairs. There were hundreds of those ships, and it would take almost five of the strongest ships in the pirate fleet to take down one of those behemoths.

"Why else would they draw their armie here? They know about Geddo's assault! And they're preparing for it," He looked out across the ships, still crouched behind the battlements, the huge, loaded crossbow in his right hand. "But that doesn't explain the amethyst. It could be a code word for something. An amethyst doesn't make any sense," he thought about that for a moment. "Yes, that makes sense. Amethyst is a code for something, and its easier to refer to something in a shortened word, even for a council."

But he still wasn't convinced by his own thoughts. Something was odd here. Something was happening in this fort, and he wanted to know what. Chase glanced up and saw the brazier light coming from the Supreme Lord's Tower. "Horus, show me the way." He thrust the falcon into the air and it swooped away into the night air.

"We have to get to the Supreme Lord, if anyone will know what is going on, it will be him." Chase half crouched half-ran towards the tower along the walls. There weren't as many guards as there should have been, but he still had to loose a bolt now and then to clear their path...

[Poker]

Poker looked up towards the light shining from what he took to be the Office of the Supreme Lord.

"Do you think it is a project name?" Poker asked. "A name for a strategic move or something. Project Amethyst, perhaps? I can't think of any other way an amethyst would come into your plan."

Poker gritted his teeth for a moment while walking behind Chase and ahead of Archer. The night breeze was cool against his visible skin, and he could hear the tranquil lapping of the ocean upon the shore. But it was all a lie, the Fort was not tranquil. It was certain death should the night breeze catch him or the lapping ocean see him.

"If they know about Geddo's assualt then we have a major problem." Poker said. "We have a snitch in our ranks."

[chase]

"Its been done before you know. Traitors are everywhere these days. Naval soldiers turn over to our ranks all the time, and vice versa," Chase replied back to Poker behind him.

They arrived below the tower and a firm oaken door stood in front of them. "Stop here, Horus should be doing his job soon." Chase leant against the side of the door and took this moment to regain some breath after so much running and firing. Running and firing, his crossbow still in his hand.

The breeze was light on his brow, but the bottom half of his face was snug beneath its cloth mask. "So... good weather huh?"

A screech was heard from above them and Horus swooped down, the end of a rope clutched firmly in its talon. "Good boy Horus," Chase reached into his belt and absent-mindedly threw a dead rat into the air, which was soon intercepted mid-flight. The rope dropped to the ground and coiled around twice before staying still. It lead all the way up the cold stone to the lighted window.

Chase gave it a few strong tugs to make sure it was firmly attached on the other end. "He doesn't know how to tie knots," He was talking about Horus of course. "But he knows how to wrap it around an object enough to..." his words caught in his throat as the other end of the rope slid out of the window and fell to the spy's feet. "Hmm... maybe not."

He tied the rope to then end of his loaded bolt and fired it up towards the window. The bolt slammed into the wooden boarding of the window just above it. He immediately started pulling himself up along the rope. "We must hurry, the guards will return soon..."