An Unlikely Partner (Syren and Raffaele)

[Raffaele Spataro - Council]

An Unlikely Partner

He would let them drink.

It had been nearing three days since a drenched and now ill messenger had arrived at his door carrying a torn and equally soaked parchment which was begging for his help in the hurried and emotional script on the page. A powerful noble had been robbed of his young adult daughter who was snatched from her carriage on a route home despite the guards that were by her side. A message had been sent to said noble indicating they wanted a laughable amount of money in exchange for the girl's life. The parents were of course willing to give up their fortunes for their daughter, but were currently begging the king for help in the payment.

Raffaele let the stranger in and remained silent as the messenger gave everything he knew about the incident. The immediate thought that entered his mind was the young woman was already dead, but he wasn't about to pass up the opportunity of the job. Anyway, you couldn't tell a parent their child was dead unless they had proof of so or they would never give up, which meant they would find another bounty hunter to go looking and he would then be out of the money for nothing. So, Raffaele agreed to said terms to find their daughter, however grim the ending would likely be.

Currently he was in a dark tavern, surrounded by the type of persons that were capable of taking a girl without hesitation if there was any profit to be found in doing so. It seemed everyone here was either scowling, roaring in laughter from having drowned in endless cups of ale, gambling, or fighting. Some were taking their pick of the choices as well. His dark gaze landed on the reason he was there despite the commotion of it all. One of the guards for the missing daughter was here and enjoying his time with friends. After some casual questions among the surviving men who had been there that day, this one was the last he had talked to which was purposeful. Something about his behavior didn't quite sit right with him when he was announced by their employer and Raffaele had a strong indication that this was done by someone close to the family or at least someone who had helped others to pull this off. It did help that hearing the man's heartbeat begin to beat wildly out of control like a war drum when being questioned showed a strong indication Raffaele was right.

The sanguine glanced up. This guard, Aldred, had three women who were being paid for their company to entertain him and the two other friends he was with. This did not come cheap and by the look of his companions, they were not nearly in any capacity to be able to pay for this type of fun. Aldred was definitely the one which was earning the most coin among them, but even still, not enough to be leisurely spending it as they were. Another good indication for Raffaele. Aldred had gotten his cut for his role in the scheme. Whoever had done this, they were experienced. This wasn't their first time doing something so brazen and high risk.

He would let them drink. It made men sloppy, especially when women were added into the mix. Then he would get Aldred alone and demand more answers in the hope of finding out who the group was that had taken the girl.

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Bright green eyes scanned the streets, looking for any signs of trouble, before Syren stepped from the shadows of the sidewalk onto the cobblestone road. She pulled her cloaks hood down for an easier peripheral should anyone dare to approach, showing off her bright blonde hair as it stood out in the moonlight. One of the defining features of her bloodline was her pale colored hair, something she had gotten from her mother. Thoughts of her mothers beautiful face and smile drifted into her thoughts, but not wanting to lose sight of her mission at hand, she quickly shook the thoughts from her mind as she entered the tavern doors. 

As soon as Syren walked through the door of the tavern, her nose was assaulted with the smell of cheap lager, wine, and women. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, but scanned the crowd for the one she was looking for. Her eyes landed on a drunken group of men, having their fill of booze and women. Pretending not to have any particular agenda, she went to find a seat. Before she could sit, a man who clearly drowned himself in spirits grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. He slurred his words trying to entice Sy with a good time, but she was having none of it. She looked at the man with a look of death and whispered something that made him turn sheet white and quickly released her arm. She growled under her breath before fixing her cloak and dress which had gotten slightly disheveled by the mans rough grip. Finding a lone table in the back, she sat down keeping her eyes on the people in front of her and her back to the wall. She ordered a fine wine that she sipped on as she continued to scan the crowd around her. Wary and on edge, she took note of the few people who sat alone; and in particular one man who also seemed to be eyeing the same group of men that she was. Syren's gaze narrowed on this individual as she took in his darker features. It wouldn't surprise her if he had a similar goal to her when it involved the drunken group of men, as she had heard many things about some of the mercenaries around here. She knew she would have to keep her guard up, especially as she was now working alone without anyone to trust.

Syren knew that she could not just approach the men on a whim without alerting those same men of an underlying plan. They were drunk, but not entirely stupid, nor blind. Sy concocted a plan that she thought would work perfectly, if they would just leave the tavern already. The hour was growing very late, and she had finished most of her wine. Though she was not a light weight, she was growing tired and more so, impatient.

Making a decision to leave, and pursue them on another day when she had gotten more rest than the small amount she had gotten here with, she motioned the barkeep to come collect her coin so that she may leave. Now that she thought about it, Syren was actually very exhausted from her long travels to this new and foreign land; after arriving she had spent most of the day searching for a place to rest her tired body later. During the evening is when she began her so called 'hunt'. Night was normally her forte, though it was proving to be opposite on this very evening, she was a better assassin in the dark of night; not to say that she couldn't get things done during day time, but that was the time she used to scout. Sy could not wait to rest her head and aching body, but she had an inkling that it might not be anytime soon this eve.

[Raffaele Spataro - Council]

An Unlikely Partner

"I can smell you."

The hour was growing late and Raffaele could only stand so much pretending to be human. He'd ordered quite a few drinks now to maintain his seat in the establishment. Though on any other night, anyone not giving business to the tavern would likely be thrown out by now if they were not paying for the seat their body was taking up, but he was casually tipping the server more than she would've made in a month and he had the feeling she would not mind him staying put no matter how many drinks he did, or didn't in this case, order. His body could only tolerate so much, after all. It wasn't like he could ask the girl to mix the drink with blood.

Raffaele glanced over to the table he'd been watching all night. The men were incoherent at this point. Perfect. Despite the cacophony of noise from the talking, gambling, laughing and everything else that went on in a place such as this, his extraordinary hearing could still pick up the speech of the men he'd been interested in or more like slurred nonsensical words. The cheap ale had done a number on them by now and to the sober mind what they said would make no sense, but apparently they seemed to understand one another while the women still understood the language of the coin that kept them there despite.

Finally they rose from the table which made Raffaele roll his eyes. About time. Aldred nearly fell backwards in his effort which caused a roaring laughter among their party. The server girl, Lucy, hurried over when she saw Raffaele standing, no doubt wondering if her lucrative night was now coming to an end. He only smiled to Lucy and handed another small pouch of coin over in exchange for her letting him stay for as long as she did as well as her discretion. He could see the disappointment in her face while he turned and headed out, after his target.

He was sure to stay far back from them. It's not like he couldn't hear their every move given how loud they still were despite leaving the tavern. Aldred was leading the way back to wherever it was they were staying for the night, clearly not returning to his wife and child at home given his newfound company. They turned down a couple of streets and then down a darker one that was further away from the main road where the more decent establishments were. The light here would be hard for anyone to see who might lie in the shadows which was all the more perfect for him. 

Down an alleyway they went to the next handful of inns Aldred must've had rooms for which meant he would finally have the chance to speak to the man alone after having to ask his woman companion to nicely leave. That was until he suddenly heard another heartbeat not far off from theirs. It was slowed and steady and when he casually glanced over his shoulder, there was no one else in the alley with them. Or at least one he could see. Interesting. 

Raffaele stopped and let the men enter the inn. He'd deal with that later, but for now it seemed he was being followed. Or perhaps someone else was on the trail to find Aldred he did not know about. He was certain the nobles didn't have the money to pay another bounty hunter to help in the search of their daughter, so this someone else couldn't be there for that purpose. "I know you're there," he said simply into the darkness of the quiet and deserted alley. It was a compact space. It wasn't like there were many places to remain hidden and night was never a hinderance to a creature like him. His hand moved to the hilt of his sword. "I can smell you."

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His voice wafted over to Syren where she had been moving seemingly soundlessly through the shadows, keeping one eye on the men at all times. The voice at first startled her, but knowing she could not hide, she stepped from her perch raising an eyebrow at him. "Smell is of little consequence to me, it only matters what one sees." She spoke in a soft but short tone, not wanting to linger much longer with a stranger who seemed to have a similar target as her. She would be damned if she would miss out on a perfect opportunity to obtain more information. Sy took in this person's form, taking note of certain features if she were to get into an escalated situation. "What is it that you want with the men anyways?" She asked curiously but doubted she would get any information out of him; after all, knowledge was power in this world.

Syren circled him, not like a predator after prey, but more so to get a full view of him. The only sound in the cramped alley was water leaking from the roof after a previous rainfall. Both of their movements seemed to give away little sound or even much about who they were as people. Sy was usually able to tell the status or social ranking of one by how they carried themselves or spoke. This person though, gave very little away. Being mysterious, it seemed, is something they both had in common. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the men enter the Inn that they had been hanging around outside of, and she slowly made her way forward, not giving another glance back at the strange man that she spoke to earlier; she had little doubts that he would soon be on her heels. 

[Raffaele Spataro - Council]

An Unlikely Partner

Unfortunately for her, the bounty hunter couldn't allow this. 

Raffaele's eyes looked upward to see the person in question as they stepped out on the ledge and away from the darkness. A woman, no less. That didn't mean he would underestimate her though. He'd seen his fair share of fierce women over the many years of his long life and knew better than to think women were incapable of handling themselves in various situations. He could hear her heartbeat. Steady and strong. She showed no sense of fear or anxiousness. He was more and more intrigued.

His dark gaze never moved from her as she circled around to him, seemingly taking him in just as he had been doing with her. The shadows no longer hid her as well though the night never really hindered him when it came to seeing just as clearly. However, the moonlight cast directly into the alleyway they were currently having their introduction and despite her hood covering most of her hair, the strands that showed seemed to glow a nearly soft pale white. He'd never seen anything like it before, though perhaps he'd heard tales of a bloodline that might be the ones to have such a striking and notable feature.

A rather coy smile began to form on his lips as she inquired what he was doing following the men. He would never answer truthfully on any given day, but she was making him curious now. "I could ask the same of you." As the door to the tavern closed once the men had moved inside, it seemed that was all the time the woman had to give to Raffaele before she lost interest. Unfortunately for her, the bounty hunter couldn't allow this. 

It only took the time to blink and he was at her side before stepping in front of her to block the path further. "Those men are potentially dangerous. Are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into, Miss?" She was petite though the conviction in her demeanor meant this woman was not one that troubled herself with worrying whether or not a situation was unsafe. This alone made her seem taller. 

He was using the time to study her. Not human, this he knew. She didn't smell of it. Not sanguine or lupine. What was it? Mystic maybe... "Perhaps I can help you with whatever business you have with them?" Raffaele was going out on a limb here in order to possibly pull more information from her, but he had the feeling she was not one willing to work with others and he wasn't going to let her get in the way of his own quest which he planned on getting paid for without unnecessary distractions and interruptions.