We Could Have Been Thieves

[Balthazar Black]

7 Ymiden 720

Two dreamers crept across a tile rooftop wearing black clothing, hoods, and white masks. One of the duo, a man, had eyes that seemed to glow brightly beneath his mask while the other, a woman, had violet eyes but that was about all that could be perceived.They silently slipped across the slanted tiles silently before coming to the edge and peering over to ensure no one was around. With a silent nod to each other the duo dropped to the ground. "Where are we?" The mans asked the woman as he looked around at the trees curving into the sky with white leaves like bright clouds in the dark night. When he turned, the building they'd dropped down from was gone and he discovered that they were in the middle of a vast white forest.

"About three bits off." The woman said as she looked around. "It's beautiful." The man couldn't argue with that. White leaves blanketed the floor of the forest around the path the man and woman stood on. "What about a house over there?" The woman gestured off into the woods and the man shook his head.

"I prefer the coast." The man replied as lucidity began to take over. He was more than a man. He was Balthazar Black. He looked around again thinking the same question he'd just asked Isabella. His face reached up to his mask and he went to remove it when suddenly the woman seized his arm.

"Don't reveal yourself on the job, your rules, not mine." The woman insisted so Balthazar lowered his hand from the mask and nodded. The woman looked down the road and the two of them began walking toward the unknown.

"So you do listen." Balthazar said casually as if he hadn't made a mistake. "Lets see how well, what's the plan again?"

[Balthazar Black]

7 Ymiden 720

In ten bits the usual tribute wagon will pass our meet-point. Balthazar and the woman stood in a dark alley, a thin sliver of light from across the street illuminating Balthazar's white mask for a moment before the woman pulled him back into the shadows. The sound of hooves and wooden wheels beating across the cobblestone floor filled the alley as a massive wagon carrying thousands of gold nels from the nearby subject provinces. As the wagon rolls by, the woman and Balthazar turned out of the alley and began trailing it from a few yard away- crouching low and still masked by the darkness of the night.

The gold will be heavy. It'll put pressure on the wagon and make the horses slow. Skinny's on a rooftop a half mile before the palace gate. He will use an arrow to break one of the wagons wheels. A thin, small man dressed in similar black attire with a cowl and mask over his face slowly drew an arrow from his hip-quiver and knocked it on his bow. With a deep breath, he drew back the bowstring and took aim at a target half a city away. Skinny. They called him Skinny because he was skinny any because he could squeeze an arrow through pretty much any opening. As he breathed out, Skinny loosed his arrow. It cut through the sky before striking the already stressed wheel of the wagon, causing it to snap a few dozen gold nels to come pouring out from the back. The drivers groaned, one holding a crossbow and one holding the reigns. The one holding the reigns released his grip and came down from his seat to see what had happened. "Wheel's out." He reported to his friend.

"Well... get it fixed." The driver with the crossbow spat back as he stood and looked around through his crossbow sight.

That's where Thickness comes in. A burly man with tree-trunk arms and a barrel chest emerged loudly and joyously from a tavern to 'stumble' onto the unfortunate wagon. Thickness will keep the drivers distracted while you and I move into place. The burly man approached the wagon and the crossbow clad driver took aim. "Halt! State your business." The driver demanded. Burly raised his hands in peaceful surrender.

"I heard a crash, I thought you's might need a hand?" Thickness asked. The driver with the crossbow lowered his weapon and looked to his companion who nodded.

"Alright just hurry up. Come around the side and lift the wagon while Ernst gets a new wheel on." The guard decided before easing back into his seat. Thickness did as he was asked, moving over to the side of the wagon and lifting it from the ground with a loud groan that covered the sound of Balthazar and the woman scrambling beneath the wagon. They grabbed hold of some support rails while the wheel was replaced. With the wagon of gold fixed, the drivers shooed off Thickness with a threatening wave of their crossbow. He stumbled back with his hands raised in surrender and went into an alleyway.

We will hold onto the bottom of the wagon until the wagon crossed back out of the village on the route to the king. And which king is that? What do you mean? There are no kings in Scalvoris. Scalvoris? What's that? That was when he had realized she was not lucid as he was. Yet he didn't want to interrupt her plan, he didn't want to ruin the dream for her so he went along with it, hoping his natural skills would be enough to fulfill his role.

So Balthazar and the woman held onto the bottom of the wagon as it rolled down the street. He had his feet up on one of the beams connected to the wheel which helped a little but as time dragged on his arms began to hurt. The woman didn't seem affected at all but she noticed Balthazar's discomfort and seemed concerned. Even with her mask he could tell she was worried he was going to drop and she didn't understand why. Then the wagon stopped.

"We're here." The woman whispered.

[Balthazar Black]

7 Ymiden 720

Balthazar and the woman slowly lowered themselves from the wagon and rolled to the left as the wagon drivers came down the right side and walked towards the door of the building they were delivering the gold to. The building was fuzzy and hard do describe which Balthazar took as the first sign of his meddling. The woman was slowly realizing what Balthazar had meant about Scalvoris. Unfortunately while the woman rolled silently, Balthazar dropped from the wagon and hit the ground with a thud, alerting the two drivers who turned in surprise and saw the would-be thieves.

"B!" The woman shouted as she threw open a portal and leapt through it. At least she wasn't lucid yet.

"Sorry!" Balthazar quickly took cover behind the wagon as a crossbow bolt smashed into it. The driver began to reload and Balthazar heard the familiar sound of a portal tearing open. He whipped around the corner of the wagon and charged at the drivers while the woman appeared behind them. She kicked the driver with the crossbow in the back of the knee and wrapped her arm around his neck to try and choke him out while Balthazar attacked the other driver. Balthazar jabbed the second man in the throat before sweeping his legs from under him and stomping once on his chest. The woman seemed slightly surprised by the tactic but it worked faster than hers. A few trills later she lowered the unconscious body onto the floor and gestured for Balthazar to get the wagon. He did as she said, getting up onto the drivers seat and taking the reigns.

The woman dug through the pockets of the unconscious men, finding a few nels to pocket before she joined Balthazar on the wagon and snatched the reigns from him. A bit later and they were gone.

[Balthazar Black]

7 Ymiden 720

Balthazar and the woman road on a dark path through the forest of white trees the blanketed the floor in while leaves. The woman sighed and familiar sigh and reached up to pull off her mask. She turned over the ivory mask in her hands a few times before tossing it aside. "This was all a dream, wasn't it." She slowly pulled down her hood, revealing her face- Isabella's face. She seemed... sad.

"It doesn't matter." Balthazar replied reaching back into the wagon and grabbing a handful of gold coins. He tossed the gold at Isabella who shielded herself and laughed slightly. "It was fun, wasn't it?"

"It was." She agreed as the path came to an end at a long red tree in the forest of white.There was a trap door hidden beneath the leaves, leading to the base where they were meant to return with the gold to divide it among the team. Red leaves like blood littered the white floor as Isabella and Balthazar got down from the wagon. Isabella slowly walked towards the trap door while Balthazar pulled off his hood and mask, dropping it to the floor. Isabella turned to look back at Balthazar, seeming somewhat disappointed again. "But it doesn't make me any richer."

Balthazar shrugged, knowing he couldn't really argue with that. "There are other benefits." Isabella grinned a mischievous grin and sauntered toward Balthazar.

"Oh? What other benefits?" Isabella got close to Balthazar, closer than she'd gotten to him in a long time. She put her hands on his chest and they slowly slid up to his shoulders.

"Isabella, we shouldn't-"

"Like you said, it's a dream, it doesn't matter."

"It does if you're lucid."

"Maybe I'm not?"

"But I am."

"Maybe you're not? Just for this dream?" Isabella leaned closer with each exchange, her lips drawing nearer and her hands sliding around his back to draw his body close. "It doesn't matter. We're both going to wake up in our own beds in the morning." She whispered before kissing him. Balthazar pulled away for a moment but only a moment before he gave in. Maybe she was right? It didn't matter. They could be two thieves in the forest celebrating the best job of their lives... just for the night. Balthazar's left hand wrapped around Isabella's back while his right moved up to her cheek, caressing it as he kissed her.

In that moment he didn't want it to just be for one night. He wanted to be able to come back. He wanted to see her again. He wanted... and his powers reached out. As he pulled away he saw his hand had left a faint black hand print, like ashes smeared on skin, on Isabella's cheek- a brand so he could find her anywhere. She smiled, he smiled, and they let themselves be two thieves celebrating a victory together in a beautiful forest.

[Pig Boy]

Balthazar

Experience: 10 no magic xp

Knowledge:

Stealth - A good distraction to get in place
Stealth - Hiding under a wagon to get somewhere
Politics (Terrorism) - Stealing wealth from a local power
Strength x 3
Non-Skill: Dreamwalking (Brand) - Dreamwalker Isabella

Renown: none

Skill Usage: Stealth and Climbing over play. Yes, you have strength and acrobatics, but clinging to surfaces is more the province of climbing than anything else.

Loot/Losses: A brand to Dreamwalker Isabella

Injuries/Conditions: none

Consequences: Balthazar might've surprised himself with his ability to cling to surfaces and pass unseen, when he's never or rarely used such skills in his waking life. Yet, there they were, rolling along from the bottom of a wagon for a good distance. In fact, Balthazar's success at sneaking and clinging to the bottom of the wagon was owed to the fact that an Emeyan being had noticed him during his travels in the Untold, and decided to follow him, waiting for the moment when his guard is down, or for the off chance that he should use magic in Emea.

Next season, should Balthazar travel the untold, he will find himself stalked by one of these Emeyans and lessers of their kind, and be cornered in a nightmare, or else cordoned off and forced to fight them.

Comments: Although I handed down consequences for overplay, I still was highly entertained by this thread. It seems like a fun diversion from the usual stuff that Balthazar gets up to. Although should he have more larcenous dreams, I'd caution him to be more careful about overdoing it with regards to his physical limits.

I wonder if Isabella really was lucid at the end, or if she was okay with him branding her? Well, I suppose he'll find out when he pops up next to her after travelling the Untold next!

Fun thread, enjoy the points and knowledges.

If you have any concerns about this review, please PM me about them.