Charitable Donation

Note: This is an import of a thread from the old Zetaboards site found here.


The city if Parranda was known to be full of pretty crime. People often got things stolen from them. Amani didn't think the immense poverty was helpful. People got hungry, grew desperate, and then began stealing. It was terrible and pitiful. Thieveing should be only left to the professionals. Besides, all these idiots stealing some coin to buy a doll for their little girl, or a cake for a special occasion were just terrible at this entire thieving thing. Definitely not suited for her gang at all.

She stood in the dark alley, a dark cloak over head, and covering her body. Amani had learned it was better to pretend to be someone else, than actually her. A known gang leader running around the streets filled with Expiates and bounty hunters wasn't exactly an ideal thing to do.

Amani waited for someone to walk by. Yes, she knew stealing from poor people was wrong, but she knew how to spot them, and usually avoided them. Besides, she didn't see it as stealing, more like a donation to her cause. Which was stealing from noble.

'Hopefully my patience pays off, I would rather not have to stand here all night waitng for some idiot to come shambling out of an inn.' Amani thought sith boredom.

In the middle of the road was a sight that was very odd to Saadedge indeed. Despite the sun beating down on the city, the harsh dusty winds and dry air, a short figure of no more than four feet was walking in Saoirsian attire. Long blonde hair flowed behind her, her eyes were sharp and green. An elderly man wearing even odder attire, a Sakigake yukata, wooden sandals and straw hat, was shading her with a lace parasol. The girl seemed young enough. A child, perhaps, with her plush rosy cheeks. However, the way she carried herself and the air of arrogance around her suggested she might not be as young as one thought. One thing was for sure, she was probably someone wealthy. She was holding in her dainty gloved hands a box of what appeared to be expensive chocolates. Amidst all the hungry people, she stuffed the luscious treats into her mouth one by one and savoring it with no real interest.

"Chocolates from the House of Kigal, pfft, as if," she said as she yawned. "I barely taste the refined cacao. No doubt this was bought off of a local shop. Pathetic."

Amani raised an eyebrow at the girl and man. One was definitely Saoirsian, and was currently stuffing her face with expensive looking chocolate. And was now complaining about it in front of many hungry people. 'Damn brat!' The thief thought with a hint of anger. Some people these days....

The man was something different. He was wearing a Sakigake yukata. She was pretty sure that was the homeland of the Enkidu, she had to remember to ask some of the ones in her gang when she got back. But she was wondering what he was doing. Perhaps a servant?

She narrowed in on her target. She pulled her scimitar out slowly, and had the sun shine on the Opal, creating a bright light towards some buildings across the street. A few seconds passed, and two lights from a roof, and one from an alleyway shined back. A sinister grin grew on Amani's face. This girl was going to get what she deserved.

Amani motioned for the other thieves to get ready, the two on the roofs jumped along the other ones, getting ready to strike. The one in the alley walked out and blended with a small crowd of people. Amani did the same.

She walked towards the pair. The eyes of her gang members watched for any signs of trouble. They would alert her of Expiates, or if the pair would try anything. Amani knew exactly how she was going to handle this. She walked past a small market stall someone had set up. Lovely looking clothes. Amani easily snagged one without the owner noticing. A luxurious, pink dress. Made from fine silk it seems.

Amani began quickening her pace and put on a panicked look. Someone would probably assume she was a young servant girl on an errand. Amani dammed into the man and fell to the ground, allowing the expensive-looking dress fall to the ground. "Oof!" She grunted in a meek voice. The thief then looked down and nearly screamed. "No! Milady's dress! It's... It's ruined!" She cried. "She warned me not to mess up! 'Twenty lashes and a week without dinner if you fail this simple task, Aisha.' I'm going to get it now! Why... Is this happening to me...?" Amani began rambling. Fake tears were building in her eyes.

The man had slightly winced at the bump and made an awkward stand as if to defend himself, but upon seeing a sweet youth before him, he straightened up.

"Oh my," he said. "Sincere apologies, miss. Are you alright?"

The girl with the flowing blonde hair had stopped eating chocolates when the girl started crying. She sighed and pulled out a fan.

"Didn't you hear her, Wanyu?" the girl said in an exceedingly bored tone. "She's going to get a lashing for getting a tiny bit of dust on that dress. Pitiful, isn't it?"

The old man frowned.

"That does sound worrisome," he said.

Strange how he translated the girl saying "pitiful" into "worrisome". The girl sighed and stepped forward. A closer look at her attire, she was wearing a lilac Saoirsian dress with many layers and ruffles. Thin sleeves bloomed into a bell at her shoulders and a rose ornamented her sash. She wore a lace bonnet that tied into a ribbon under her chin. Granted, she was probably extremely hot from all the layers she was wearing, but she showed no sign of it.

"Servants should know better than to sprint when carrying something precious for their nobles," the girl said indignantly. "I for one would never trust a servant who was so reckless as to bump into other people and wrinkle my dresses, let alone mar them of disgusting sand."

"I'm sure it was a mere accident, Little Miss," the man called Wanyu said.

The girl glanced sideways and scoffed.

"I doubt a noble would let you carry around a dress not properly and delicately placed inside a box," she said. "Do you realize how hasty and careless this girl is? I bet she deserves every lashing she gets for this."

The man slowly nodded.

"I suppose I would do nothing else but submit myself to a lashing or a week at the stocks were I to commit the same mistake towards you, Little Miss," the man said. He looked at Amani and stooped down a bit. "But don't let any of that threaten you, young mademoiselle. Little Miss is more than lenient enough to allow me to explain the situation to your mistress."

"Yes, and perhaps she'd like the rest of chocolates, too," she said. "I'm sure a person with no taste in servants and export of her items will have no qualms about mediocre chocolates."

She looked at the box with disgust and extended it towards Amani.

"Hey, maybe you'd like them, servant girl," she said. "It'll make a good last supper before you meet your scourging, don't you think?"

Amani was ready to pull out her scimitar and stab the girl. She had noted that nobles had often treated their servants like complete trash. They must have confused the words "servants" with "slaves." Amani always got a thrill when she was able to recruit a servant into her gang. A lot of them made good thieves. Quiet, cleaned up quickly, and knew how to get gossip. She thought she could try her luck with Wanyu, but that would probably give away her cover.

"No! Milady's ruthless if you show up unannounced! Please don't trouble yourself..." Amani said hastily as she tried to wipe the sand off the dress. She felt kind of bad for Wanyu, having to out up with this brat all the time.

Amani looked at the chocolates. Really? While she gave the look of a hungry and shy servant girl, her eyes were looking for coin purses, jewelry, any valuables she could take. She didn't see any at the moment, but she would need to find a way to take whatever she sets her eyes on.

Amani took the box gently, but shook her head and gave it back. "No, I can't! It's not right! I deserve even more lashes for just thinking about taking one chocolate!"
She whimpered. 'Aisha' seemed to get even more upset.

If Amani looked closely at the girl and Wanyu, she'd find no obvious accessories or valuables she could easily pick off. However, the girl did have a dress on and it was more than likely that Wanyu was hiding the valuables in the deep sleeves of his yukata or hidden pockets. That said, if the girl wanted valuables, she'd either have to blind them and search around while they were startled or corner them. That was, of course, until the girl scoffed at Amani and stooped over.

"Oh, quit your whining!" she said. "It's those lowly unprofessional attitudes that make servants like yourselves disgusting. How in Esterelf do you expect to be competent if all you do is grovel?"

As the girl stooped, a pretty silver necklace (no, not even gold), was dangling around the girl's neck. It was of a silver chain and the pendant was an engraved woman side-faced like a queen on a coin. It probably wouldn't give Amani gold, but the engraving would probably bump it's price up a little more than if it were an ordinary pendant.

She'd hear the box of chocolates drop to the floor. The girl then lifted her skirt to reveal the tip of a formal bit which would push the chocolates to Amani's own feet.

"There, take it as Wanyu's way of apologizing," she said in a bored tone. "But stop crying in front of my face and wasting my time."

"Indeed, Little Miss, much time has been wasted because of her," Wanyu agreed in a neutral tone.

Rage boiled inside of Amani. She hated nobles so much. She wondered if she could get away with murdering one? With that bratty attitude, Amani doubted anyone would actually miss her. Amani saw the pendant as well. It was nothing really special, it had an engraving but it wasn't going to fetch her a high price. Still, she wanted it. It must've seen important to the girl if she wore it. There were nicer pieces of jewelry out there. She wanted it just to have it really.

"S-Sorry..." 'Aisha' replied. Now she had to figure out a way to get the brat and her servant into a secluded area, where everyone could strike. "Please. Come back with me, we can give you better sweets at Milady's home." She offered. Amani really hoped that they accepted. But if not, she would have to order her attack in view of the public eye. And that was no fun.

The girl snorted.

"About time we were shown some hospitality," she said. "Lead the way and maybe I can strike a deal with your mistress to not lash you too hard. However, keep sobbing and I may change my mind on it."

Wanyu remained silent and bent over as he shaded the girl properly with her parasol.

Amani bowed. "Please follow me." She said. Amani would begin heading down the road. She knew two of her thieves darted along the rooftops, hidden away from her targets. The third one blended in with the crowd, and looked like an ordinary citizen going about their day. She resisted the urge to smirk.

She turned down an alleyway. "Milady's residence is just across the street, it will be quicker to use this alleyway." Amani told her companions. She was holding in her excitement. It would be all over soon. She led them into the middle of the alley. Then, the two thieves on the rooftops jumped down and brandished their scimitars. Behind them, the third thief pulled out his own scimitar as well.

"What do we have here?" One of them asked with amusement. "A prissy little noble, a poor servant, and of course, a lovely actress." He cackled. Amani had immediately hid behind Wanyu when the thieves appeared. But she stepped out with more confidence. Her 'Aisha" persona had been scrapped.

"Oh, you're too kind!" Amani chuckled. She stood in front of the duo and drew her own scimitar. "Now, to deal with this brat." She said in a sinister voice. Now, Amani didn't really kill anyone. She was a thief, and it was bad for business. But sometimes she had to do it. Of course, she wasn't going to actually kill the girl or Wanyu.

"Please remove all valueables and drop them on the ground. You can start with that neat-lookin' pendant, brat." Amani ordered. Her thieves moved closer, closing off the area. "So, what's a rich girl from Saoirse doing in a place like this?" She asked as she waited for her targets to comply.

The girl and Wanyu stood still as the thieves drew closer and looked at one another. The girl then snorted. She covered her mouth as her shoulders shook, her lips clamped tight as she tried to suppress making a sound.

"Pfft...snrk...hihi....hehe....ahahahahahaha!" the girl burst out.

She hugged herself as she went into a laughing fit. Even Wanyu was shaking his head and smiling widely.

"W-Wanyu! This girl is funny, isn't she!?" she said. "Snrk...sh-she...she actually thought we were rich! It's hysterical!"

Wanyu tipped his hat and nodded.

"I blame your taste in dresses, Little Miss," Wanyu said.

The girl was still in hysteria, her gloved hand lifting to her eyes to wipe tears in their corners.

"Ahaha...ha...this country is so funny," the girl said. She breathed out and finally calmed down. Her smile fade. "Okay, okay, I can't give you the pendant because it's valuable, but I have some gold around here somewhere."

Obviously she didn't seem in the least threatened by the scmitar. Either that or she was just crazy. The girl began lifting up her skirt.

"I think I keep my extra stuff in my garter..."

As she lifted the skirt up to reveal her boots and her knees, she untied a ribbon of one of her dress' layers. From it, a strange silvery metal ball rolled out with a red stone in the middle and started to glow.

"Fool." the girl said in a low voice.

There would be a bright flash of light and what Amani would see blinded or not by it was the girl grinning and charging at her with a silver dagger.