Blood in the Water

Artemis sat at his table in the Jealous Harpy Tavern, the table that everyone who was anyone and some that weren't, simply knew belonged to him. No one dared to sit at his table any longer. Not after the first unfortunate soul made the mistake of trying to tell him to fuck off. After they'd found his body in the Waterfront district near the river, no one questioned just who that table belonged to.

The moon elf was currently sitting at his table, staring down at a shot glass filled with some potent whiskey while he rolled a joint, filling it with his preferred weed. Artemis' eyes had the darkest of bags beneath them. As he rolled the paper, Artemis glanced up to the entrance of the tavern. He could see that several people were walking through, each of them armed. Artemis barely looked at the leadman, recognizing them as his guildmates. Looking back to his join, he inspected it slightly and bent it just a touch. He always did that with his smoke, finding that it gave the joint character. Just as he finished bending it a touch, the leadman from the group headed to his table and moved to sit down. Artemis kicked the chair that he was about to sit in out from under him, sending him sprawling to the floor.

"Damnit Morningstar!," the man cried, a human. "I fucking outrank you, in both title and skill, and-"

"If you outranked me in skill, then you would have killed me a long time ago," Artemis said quietly, setting the tip of the joint into his mouth. "Now, what is it that the boss wants to see to this time? And do be quick about it."

The man growled softly and stood, slamming his hands on the table as he leaned in close, hissing, "I will fucking kill you."

Artemis just quietly removed the joint from his lips and downed his shot, shooting a look over to the man that froze his insides. The assassin quietly ran his tongue across his lips, tonguing at the corners of his mouth the most where his scars rested. Artemis took a deep breath and slowly smiled, making his scars twist and curl grotesquely, as he said in a voice colder than ice, "What is it the boss wants? Speak quick. And I might not kill you."

That made the man freeze. Artemis never threatened to kill someone unless he intended to follow through with it. And when Artemis Morningstar said you were dead, it became a fact. Such as the sky being blue.

Swallowing slowly, the man nodded and handed over a piece of paper containing the details of the mark, and turned around, moving out as quickly as he could. His little entourage followed quickly with nervous glances back to the detached Moon Elf, who simply went about his business reading the handed note.

------

He arrived in Silverhaven, the capital of the Moon Elves the next day. As he arrived, he drew his hood up over his head, masking his features in shadow. His wrists rested on the hilts of his swords and he moved as a shadow through the dark city, the houses built into the trees. Artemis looked around, curious of the city. He'd only been there on a few occasions, and usually they had been short stays. This contract he'd been given to kill a priestess of the moon however... it would take time and planning. Finding his way to the nearest inn, Artemis pulled out a generous sum of gold and silver pieces, setting them in front of the stunned inn keeper.

"A room for a week. I believe this should cover it," said Artemis. The inn keeper could only nod softly.

"Umm... but I do have one thing I need to point out, sir," started the man nervously. "No smoking."

Artemis silenced him with a stare as he drew back his hood. The inn keeper gave a disgusted look as he looked on Artemis' scars. "You were saying...?"

"I... I..."

Artemis nodded slowly and moved away from the elf, heading up the stairs to his room after collecting the key from the end of the desk. One week...

In one week he'd be collecting two thousand gold pieces.

Cendra Gadien, high priestess of the Moon Goddess, Luna. Outranking official in all of Silverhaven, never had a spare moment. Not in her many long centuries of being High Priestess; which was why she could be found, this very moment, pacing in her private chambers. She had not a clue what to do with free time, so naturally, she was on the verge of a breakdown at the prospect of a week away from her duties. A week? A week?! What am I going to do with an entire week of sequester?! she thought bitterly to herself as her hand lifted, lightly running through her deep purple hair. Not that she didn't want the week of rest, but what would he do with herself? Solitude never quite set with the young elf, though she'd learned to appreciate the serenity of it. Even if it made her a bit edgy.

"Mistress Gadien?" The soft whisper and knock of her servant, Amaleya snapped Cendra out of her reverie, causing her to stop mid stride and jerk her head up, her cool, amethyst eyes glaring at the demure child.

"Yes, Amaleya?" Her brisk tone cut through the silence of her room like a blade. She'd always been to the point and brisk when it came to associating with other people. Amaleya took the initivitive and silently walked into Cendra's room, taking care to keep her distance. While the Priestess had never openly been cruel to the girl, she'd neither been kind, and her temper was one you didn't want to test. "Umm... I'm sorry Mistress, but something's been brought to my attention, and I wanted to make sure you knew.." Her tone had gone from its normal timid, demure, softness, to one of finality, and information, which only caused Cendra's brow to raise lightly. This must be something important.

"Well then, out with it, Amaleya. We haven't got all day." While Cendra was more intrigued than she let on, she very well couldn't let her servant know she had a piece of information that could be extorted. Moon Elves weren't well known for their kindness, but their ability to extort any given situation to best suit their own needs. Not an overly dangerous bunch, Moon elves tended to be more sneaky, more behind the scenes, then in the front lines. Cendra sighed lightly as her hand idly rested on her staff. It was a long weapon, with the shape of a crescent moon on the top, which constantly glowed a deep purple, indicating her high ranking position within the clergy.

"Mistress, then know. The other high priestesses. They know of your plans after your sequester. The ones that include their deaths. And I think, I think they've hired someone to come and take care of you before hand." She spoke rapidly, not taking a breath as she rattled on about over hearing the other high priestesses, none of which out ranked Cendra, planning on getting rid of her, so that they wouldn't have to worry about the new laws she was about to instill, mainly the law about how the servant girls, the future priestesses, were treated. Dark eyebrows rose slightly as she looked at Amaleya. It came as no shock, she always knew that, what with her radical changes so far, and the ones she still wished to instill, an attempt at her life was imminent. She also knew the only reason Amaleya was telling her this was to aid her own life. If Cendra was out of the picture, Amaleya would no longer hold the High Priestesses protection.

"Thank you Amaleya, you may go." Was the only reply she gave as she turned her back, walking towards her large, open windows. She stared out, down at the darkened world below and shook her head as she began talking to herself. It was something she'd begun years and years ago, in an attempt to mull through all the things in her overly crowded mind. Though now, well now all she kept thinking about, in silence by now, was how desperately she wanted to change things within the clergy. There was so much more the Priestesses could be. As of now, they were the absolute power within the city, though they held no sway over the rulers. And they way priestesses were brought up was absolutely... "Right.. Much to do. Much to do. Should probably find out who those old hags have hired to kill me, as well." She murmured lightly as she stood on her balcony, looking out over the city.

Silverhaven... The home he'd never known. As Artemis wandered along the streets, his hood pulled low over his face. Emerald eyes looked around, carefully regarding his kin.

His kin... how interesting that thought was.

Looking over to the corner of the street he was on, he flinched as he saw something coming out of the wall. Closing his eyes, the elf took several deep breaths and opened his eyes yet again, and found that there was nothing there. He hated those moments of inclarity that haunted him ever so persistantly. Looking away from the wall, he continued across the street, avoiding being run down by a passing horse. The man on the horse looked over to him with disgust, but Artemis just ignored him. He had other matters to see to.

Even noble Silverhaven was not without its flawed areas, such as the alley he was slipping into now. Arousing scents struck his nose with clarity, as exotic women, both elven and human began making advances on him. He almost laughed at how quickly they backed away when he pulled his hood from his head, exposing his scarred visage. Many shrank with fear, but one advanced with an almost morbid curiousity.

"Hey sweetie," said the she-elf, "why don't you come by lil' Rose. She'll show you right." The woman gingerly set her hand against the side of Artemis' face. The assassin froze in his place and slowly turned an arctic gaze over to the woman that had her blood freezing in her veigns. She took the cue and slowly removed her hand, offering a weak smile as she backed up against the wall, pulling her tight, form fitting purple dress around her closely.

Artemis continued down the alley, until he came to a door at which two burly men stood, guarding it. Pulling a chain that hung around his neck up out from under his cloak, Artemis held the dangling pendant that hung from the end of it up. It was the mark of his guild. The men nodded and stepped out of the way, letting the thin elf through.

As he entered what was obviously an out of the way tavern, one not meant for regular city-folk. The elf scanned the room with his shaded eyes, looking along until he saw a small wood elf sitting by himself at the bar. He wore some fine looking clothing made of silk and velvet. Making his way to the elf, he passed by several lewd acts of the crowds, including a prostitute sliding under the table to please her John.

Snorting at the act, Artemis shifted to sit down beside the wood elf and folded his hands in front of him, idly inspecting his midnight blue painted nails.

"What'vah you want, bub... I ain' got it," the wood elf said, before taking a long swing from a pint of ale sitting in front of him. Artemis only responded by setting down a small bag of coins, pulling the strings open to reveal the shining gold pieces. The wood elf's eyes widened and he looked over quickly, a look of understanding crossing his features. "Ah... your the one... Morningstar."

"What could have possibly given you that idea?," answered Artemis slowly, as he reached into a pocket on his harness, drawing out a match. Before he could light his joint dangling from his lips, the wood elf reached over and held out his open palm, a flame lighting over it. Artemis raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, puffing on his joint and lighting the end of it. "I'm looking for information."

"Same as 'vahone else, bub," said the wood elf, shaking the flames away from his hand, dismissing them. "But what can I do you for?"

"I've been hired to deal with a certain high priestess. Supposedly the highest ranking in the city."

The wood elf raised his brows and whistled softly, saying, "No kiddin'. How much?"

"Two-thousand gold pieces."

The wood elf grunted and said, "That little coin for such a big job?"

Artemis shrugged and took another drag off of his joint, closing his eyes as he let out the smoke and said, "It's a job."

Nodding at that, the wood elf leaned in close and slid a piece of paper over to Artemis, muttering, "All the information that was requested is there... Good luck."

Artemis slid the piece of paper up in front of his face, reading it carefully...

------

Artemis stood on top of the temple to the Moon Goddess, looking down at the small people. After he'd read the paper, he'd found that his target would be given the next week off. That proved to make his job just a little easier; he wouldn't have to target her during a public ceremony, or some other such drivel as that. Artemis cringed inwardly as he stared down the sheer drop of the temple. He hated religions. They only served to steal people's money and give them false hope and faith in something that wasn't even truly there.

And they created over-zealous fools who thought that they were entitled to anything and everything under the sun. Or moon in this case.

Securing a rope along one of the spires along the edge of the temple, Artemis tested its strength by slowly scaling down the side of the temple, careful to avoid any of the windows. He frowned and froze though as he saw a figure below him staring out of a window. Tilting his head to the side, Artemis looked her over closely, carefully shimmying down the rope until he was right above her. Looking down at her, he noted her deep purple hair and nodded slowly.

This was his target. He was sure of it. Moving down the rope with a few short hops, he pushed off of the wall and swung out far, before sliding down the rope as he came forward on the rope, drawing one sword as he swung into the window. He over shot his target a few hairs though as he swiped his sword, likely only causing the wind to whistle by her ear. Dropping off the rope, he dived into a roll and turned on his heel as he came up, spinning to face Cendra, the High Priestess. His other sword seemed to simply appear in his hand, so fast did he draw it from the brass reinforced, leather loop on his belt, falling into a low position, before rushing forward without a word. He slid at the woman, blades drawn back and ready to swipe her legs out from beneath her, his cloak trailing behind him with great flapping sounds from the speed of the slide.

Cendra's eyes narrowed darkly as she eyed something moving on the streets below. There were a couple different elves, and they were obviously elves, looking up at her. Oh how she hated being gawked at. Then again, that was something that was common, given her station in the clergy. Shaking her head, she made to take a step back, but... something... whistled by her ear. The Priestess jerked her head to the side, her body jerking around as someone landed in her room, their feet silently touching down on her floor. Ahh, the assassination attempt? So soon? She frowned lightly as she watched him trek across her floor, sliding directly towards her, though she wasn't without her own abilities.

Quickly lifting her hand, Cendra's palm began to glow a deep purple color. Small black runes lifted from her skin, twining, joining, flowing together in intricate patterns. Her hair, which had begun flowing behind her, stopped. It just stopped. As did everything else in the room. Time itself seemed to creep to naught but a tedious crawl, though this didn't seem to effect Cendra's person. Slowly, she approached the assassin, his blades drawn. She wasn't afraid, and it showed rather obviously on her inquisitive stare at the man. "How extraordinary..." She paused at his side, eying his cloak, suspended in mid air behind him. "I've never actually tried this particular spell before. Didn't think it'd actually work. Though I'm incredibly happy with the results, considering I'm still happily with the living." She frowned a bit as her hand reached out, lightly trailing over the cloak, skimming down the side, and then back up the other side. "Right... The question now, is what do I do with you? Kill you? No no, definitely not. Though you've left me in quite the position." Her voice was soft, almost as smooth as silk as she slowly walked back to the front of him, her head tilted to the side as she reached up, gently pulling the cloak from his head, so she could see his face.

"Oh..." She frowned, the crease in her brow deepening as her eyes fell across his scars for a moment, and then trailed up his face to look into his eyes. "A stone cold killer then? This is what they've hired for my life?" Her eyes narrowed as she slowly stepped forward, letting her fingers trail across his scars for a moment before stepping back again. "I never thought they'd reduce their ways to hiring someone so deadly. Though I suppose I should be impressed, they think me such a great threat." she shook her head once, twice, her hair lightly bouncing about her face as she stepped back a little more.

"I think I can offer you something. I'm an incredibly wealthy Priestess. And I have a mind for things such as this." Lifting her hand lightly, she ran it through her hair, stepping back even further until she was seated on her chair in the corner. Her eyes were soft, though not kind. They were the eyes of one who'd lived a difficult life, and chose to block it out, living for the greater good, instead. "Tell me, assassin, do you know why you've been hired?" She leaned back, crossing her leg over her knee as she looked at him, holding the spell as best she could. "I wish to change things. I don't want the young priestesses to be to be beat, tortured, defiled... I wish to change mush in the clergy. And they would rather me dead, than see that. And here you are, to kill me." Shaking her head lightly, Cendra rose once more to pace about her room, the spell lifting off of time. "I offer you whatever they've paid you, plus half, in order to spare my life, and lie about it." She whispered the last, almost as if she were afraid anyone had heard her as she turned and looked at him, carefully eying him up and down.

Artemis couldn’t move. Couldn’t move, except for his eyes. The assassin tried making his muscles work, tried to force them to obey him, to lunge at the Moon Elf and cut her throat, but he couldn’t. He was, to some grim satisfaction, able to move his fingers to tighten them on the hilts of his swords.

Pulling his lips back into a snarl, he looked at the priestess who had trapped him with her spell. Spellweavers… he hated them with a passion.

And then she did something that she should have never done; she touched his scars. Eyes flying open than the spell should allow for, rage entered his glowing green eyes and he slowly watched her walk away from him. He held his posture though for many long seconds, before, through the sheer force of his will, he was able to draw back his sword arm, ready to thrust it through her chest. He paused though, as she said the words that rang like music through his long pointed ears.

“I think I can offer you something. I’m an incredibly wealthy Priestess.”

Wealthy.

Artemis slowly grinned and his scars tugged at his face, pulling at it and twisting it weirdly. The spell was wearing off now and he moved much easier, his cloak slowly falling down to his back. Straightening, the assassin slowly slid his blades into the loops on his belt, flicking his tongue along his lips.

"You have my services, Priestess... But I have to admit, I'm curious what you plan to do when they discover you living still... and more importantly, what our... kin... would do to me?," said Artemis with his arms crossing slowly over his chest. "No, I don't think that this is a deal quite befitting what you're asking. Not for gold... But perhaps, something of a blessing upon my body from your lovely moon goddess. I'd also like a new pair of blades. These ones are getting rather worn."

Artemis nodded at that, satisfied with those terms. He wanted, not the gold, but the means to protect himself from the other priestesses' wrath. And, who knows, if this deal ran afoul, he could always kill this woman. The thought brought a grotesque smile to his face.

Cendra nodded, simply accepting the terms without more than a slight bounce of her head. She knew, deep down inside that he could kill her at any moment, though it wouldn't be as easy as he formerly believed, as the assassin just found out. Bowing her head, letting her dark, purple hued hair fall down her soft cheeks, the Priestess sat up fully in her chair, her arms lifting and weaving through the air lightly. Her face became a medley of contorted energy, her eyes began to glow a soft, iridescent purple, and her tongue stuck softly out of the corner of her mouth, as she concentrated with grave effort, on the spell she was weaving.

Closing her eyes, blocking her corporeal vision from the Assassin, Cendra focused all her might on what she was doing, leaving on a small energy on the other being in the room. Something began to slowly appear in front of her, they were faint at first, but soon began to take a more solid form. First the hilts were exposed, deep, black and covered with something that looked like cloth, but was definitely stronger. And then came the actual blades, and hey were gorgeous in their own right. Glistening, glowing, long, sharp, the blades of the twin Katanas seemed to whisper softly throughout the room as they were forged into existence. And then they slowly began to glow a subtle red, which only grew stronger the longer Cendra worked them.

Moments later, she opened her eyes, exhaustion clearly etched upon her face as she took the swords and walked towards the Assassin, though she slipped directly beside him, laying the blades onto the bed where she chanted over them for what seemed like hours, though it was only a few moments. Quickly, very quickly, they grew a deep purple, that seemed to fade directly into the blade themselves. Leaning over the blades, Cendra let her finger trail along the edge of one, her face twisting in a grimace as she sliced her finger. It wasn't horribly deep, but it was deep enough to bleed.

"That should do..." She whispered softly as she picked up the blade, eying them with pride as she presented them to Artemis, waiting for his careful inspections. "And, of course..." She whispered, her lips barely moving as she pulled her hands away. The Priestess reached up, her finger tips barely grazing Artemis' chest as she began to chant. The sounds were low, though they were beautiful, presented in an ancient tongue known only to the Moon Goddess, Cendra blessed the Assassin right then and there, bestowing upon him all of Luna's grace.

"I'm highly favored within the realm of the Moon Goddess. My bestowing will give you all you need, plus much much more while you're here." Nodding to the blades, she pressed her hands into her cloak, wrapping it tightly about her. "As for those... They will never fail you, so long as you treat them with respect. Your marks will never be missed. And their blades will never dull. They will guide you when you're lost."

She turned then, grabbing a staff from against the wall before turning back to the Assassin. "Alright... After we plan my death, I'll be traveling with you."

Artemis blinked as he saw the two katanas, moving forward to take them from the priestess. He held them up in front of his face and tilted his head to the side, before moving his cloak aside. Sheathed on his back, where a pair of daggers that were hooked into loops like his swords on his hips.

Taking the daggers out, he tucked them into his boots, before sliding the katanas into their new homes on his back.

Turning away from the Priestess as she said her terms, Artemis couldn’t help as a smile spread across his lips, making his scars curl and pull at his face grotesquely.

“Travel with me?,” he asked with an incredulous chuckle. “What makes you think that I would take you with me? I’m an assassin and I don’t need the moral tugging of a priestess at my back for every little action I take.”

Looking back over his shoulder, the Moon Elf was about to flatly refuse her, before the door swung open. Slowly turning his eyes on the figure that stepped through. It was another priestess, this one tall and willowy, with flowing robes that dipped low between her breasts, exposing quite a bit of flesh.

“Well, Assassin. I see that you’ve failed to complete the contract…,” said the woman with a frown as she looked over Artemis and Cendra. Artemis snorted softly and crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head to the side as the woman swept forward and raised her staff, pointing it at the assassin. “You’ve overstayed your welcome here, assassin. The mortal coil is no long-”

The woman froze as Artemis flicked his wrist so fast that his hand was a blur. Three daggers stuck in her chest and the woman looked down to her chest, breathing in slight relief as the daggers fell away, as though they’d hit stone. The woman threw her head back and laughed, shaking her head as she said, “Really, assassin! You think that I, Lunal’ren, would fall prey to such simple attacks?”

She lowered her gaze to look back at Artemis, but the elf was gone. She felt a pressure through her back and her stomach, making her frown slowly as she looked down. Sticking through her stomach, was the long, curved blade of one of Artemis’ new katanas.

She twitched on the blade for a moment, before falling back with her head on Artemis’ shoulder. The assassin reached up and set his hand on the bottom of her jaw, before twisting her head around so that she faced him. Pulling the blade from her back, he let the woman simply drop to the ground.

Artemis sighed and looked at the katana for a moment, setting its blade on his hand. “Not bad…”

He looked to Cendra and tilted his head to the side, before grinning, “Think you could shift her face and body to look like yours, Priestess? Then it would make things so much simpler.” Shrugging, Artemis walked to the window and began climbing up the rope without so much as another glance at the woman.

Cendra's eyes widened slightly, her deep purple orbs mimicking the moon she so worshiped at the Assassin's words. Well... Either he'll allow me to come with him, or he won't. Though he'll soon see the benefits of allowing me transport. Her thoughts were dark, darker than they'd ever been; even when she was a child, at the hands of the Priestesses, her thoughts were never this dark.

The Priestess' eyes turned towards the door as it swung in, her cool gaze traveling swiftly over the other woman. It was no surprise... Lunal’ren was only lower than Cendra, herself, and she was the most ambitious the High Priestess had ever seen. There had been times when Lunal’ren had broken the sacred vows of Luna, in order to achieve her goals. Cendra wanted so badly to call the woman out, to say to the she elf everything buried deep within her heart. But she wouldn't. Oh no, not Cendra. She was the epitome of calm, caring, never breaking. Taking a deep breath, Cendra twirled her staff in her hand, taking great pains to make sure her calm, purple aura stayed as such while she leaned back against the wall, watching closely the interactions between Artemis and Lunal'ren.

“Really, assassin! You think that I, Lunal’ren, would fall prey to such simple attacks?” Cendra actually chuckled lightly to herself as she leaned against the wall even further, letting her long, purple hair cascade down her shoulder. It softly tickled her stomach, causing Cendra to brush it away as her head cocked to the side. It would seem her Assassin, and yes, at this point he was her assassin, had already won the fight. With a swift flick, the staff Cendra had been holding was upright, grasped firmly in her hands, and her eyes were trailing the Assassin as he walked towards the window.

"Dear Assassin, I don't think you'll be wanting to leave quite yet. I still have something of interest for you." She whispered softly as she walked over to the felled Priestess. Kneeling down, she began to chant softly, her staff laying beside her, her hands casing over the she elf's body. In a matter of moments a silver amulet was pulled from the woman's being, though if it cam from within her, or actually on her person, wasn't quite known. Cendra smiled softly as she clasped the amulet tightly in her hand and turned, picking up her staff, and faced Artemis.

"This is something all Priestesses have deep within themselves. It's given to us, secretly, in our ceremony into the order of the Moon. Luna herself blesses them. Whoever holds within their grasp this amulet, will forever be favored with the Moon Goddess." Nodding, Cendra reached out, taking Artemis' hand in hers, and forced his palm up. Looking up at him, her eyes soft, and yet all too knowing, the Priestess dropped the amulet into his palm. "Your favor with the Goddess is thrice what it previously was." Turning, she eyed the Priestess, who was now an exact replica or Cendra's own form. Whispering softly, she turned back to look at Artemis.

"Mimicking one's looks is all too easy. One of the first lessons learned, for our protection of course." Tilting her head to the side, Cendra looked deeply into Artemis' eyes, her own purple gaze sweeping over his. "And... You'll let me go with you, because I'm un judging. And you'll soon find I'm quite handy in a fix. Besides, with me by your side, you'll find that not only does Luna look favorably on you, but most the others that are so honorably worshiped will too." The entire time she was talking, she was looking directly into Artemis' eyes, making it so that he couldn't move. Though not by a power, oh no, she'd not be that rude again. This time, her eyes were so transfixing, so pure, and innocent, it was difficult for most anyone to look away. And then entire time this was happening, Cendra's body was changing. Her hair was shortening, and the color soon became a deep deep shade of red, and her eyes slowly began to glow a different color. A color Artemis was all too familiar with. Her body shortened, and her frame became less willowy, more stocky. Scars, scrapes and cuts began to form here and there as a face, a grinning face, that Artemis knew all too well, peered up at him innocently. Picking through someone's mind wasn't ever nice, but sometimes it was necessary.

"Well Assassin... Are you going to allow me passage with you?" Adara's voice echoed from the Priestess' throat as she grinned a toothy grin at him, her foot tapping slightly as she waited.