Charitable Donation

The three thieves were blinded immediately and covered their eyes in pain. However, Amani was quicker than that, she did get some flash in her eyes. And then the little brat thought she could just charge he'd with a freaking dagger?! Amani bared her teeth and did a back flip a away from the girl. She prepared her own blinding spell as the little demon came closer. She threw her hand forward. A cloud of sand came shooting out of Amani's hand lighting fast. Right for the girl's eyes.

"Stop standing there! You know what to do!" Amani snarled at her gang members. They grunted and rubbed their eyes. They surrounded Wanyu and held their swords towards him. Amani would deal with the girl.

While she didn't have any fancy tools and gadgets, and her spells were limited. Amani knew how to avoid being hit. Usually. It required a certain amount of dexterity and acrobats to pull off. Amani quickly swung her sword at the girl's leg.

One of her members sneered at Wanyu. "Make the little brat stop! All we wanted was you money, not your lives!" She pleaded. She didn't want the boss to die, or the little girl either.

The girl grunted as the sand flew up and blinded her, making her lift up one of her arms.

"Wanyu!" she called out for help.

But Wanyu was surrounded with swords. The old feeble mand didn't look like he could do anything. He had no weapons for instance and was only holding a parasol. He looked at the thieves with a calm expression on his face and smiled.

"Now, now, are you sure you want to be pointing that at me?" Wanyu said.

He heard the member's plea and considered it.

"That is up to Little Miss," he said. He lifted his head and turned to Mirai who was in a defensive position and her arm over her eyes in order to avoid more sand in it. "Miss Mirai?"

The girl waited for the sand to fade before she sheathed her dagger.

"Do you really think you should be making the demands?" she said in an authoritative voice. "We have the upper hand, after all."

Upper hand? What the heck was this girl talking about? Her only servant had swords pointing at him and her attire and weapon were just a complete disadvantage compared to Amani with her scmitar and light clothing. Was it pride? Delusion?

"I dislike thieves," she said. "Especially thieves who suck at what they do."

She tossed her hair back.

"As I pointed out earlier, no servant would be carrying around a dress not properly packaged," she said. "I was just testing to see how far you were willing to go with your act. And then you cornered us."

She sighed.

"My sources were right when they said this place was filled with riff-raff," she said. She sighed. "Demo, if it's money you want, then fine."

This time, the girl lifted up one layer of her dress close to her sash. There was a pouch of coins tied to it. The girl cut the purse from her sash and tossed it on the floor near Amani.

"You can have that," she said. "But you have the option not to. I'm willing to give you more than that for a little information."

She frowned.

"And if you don't, you'll regret it. Right, Wanyu?"

"Indeed," Wanyu said.

From out of his shirt poked out a long silvery wolf's tail.

"You should be familiar with Enkidu by now, right?" Mirai said. "They have the capability to turn into beast--beasts that, fully consumed by their primal nature, won't hesitate to kill living beings in its way."

"..." Amani frowned st the bag of gold. It was tempting, but she diced it wasn't worth it. Fighting these people was pointless. "Sheath your weapons." She commanded her members.

"B-But, boss!"

"Did I stutter? Sheath your damn weapons!" She growled.

The three thieves did as they were told and stepped away from Wanyu. She glared at Mirai. Was she really threatening her right now? "I'm aware of the powers of the Enkidu. I have a few members in my gang who are Enkidu, even one of my closest friends is one too." Amani explained. "I know you won't risk having yourself, as well as the innocent people nearby getting killed by your companion." Amani k sheathed her own sword and walked towards Mirai.

Her eyes stared at the girl. Emotionless. "Now, you want information, you'll get it." She said. Amani picked up the coin purse, and shoved it in the girl's hands. "We'll discuss an alternative means of payment after."

Her henchmen were surprised. They had never seen the boss act like before.

Amani turned to them. "Get out of here." She ordered. She pointed at two of them. "Meet with Jahan in the northern base. She's been staking out a mansion for a heist, I want you guys to help." The two thieves nodded and left the alley, blending in with the crowd.

"And you. Meet with Tomio. He should be at the main base. Tell him I'll be late coming back, and he's in charge for a few hours." Amani said. The last thief nodded and did as the two fid before him.

Amani finally turned back to Mirai and Wanyu. "Girl. Enkidu. Tell what you wish to know."

"Oh, she sees sense!" Mirai said in a fake dramatic tone as she rolled her eyes. "Are you alright, Wanyu?"

The old man was dusting his yukata.

"I am fine," he said. "A little sand on my sleeves will not do me any harm, Little Miss."

The man's wooden sandals clacked as he made his way to Mirai's side again. Mirai, meanwhile, was staring at Amani. Her green eyes examined her. After giving an affirmative nod, Mirai spoke.

"I've been traveling far and wide to learn more about Esterelf and its nations," Mirai said. [color=gold]"And due to lack of connections as well as not being used to this sort of weather, I saved the nation of Saadedge for last. I cannot trust nobles to tell me anything good save for their biases about the place and their obsession with the gold here. You however, will obviously be more familiar with a Saadedge person's psyche and circumstances. I want to know all about your country and its geography if you know it. Granted, a...cooler place is more to my liking. Can we sit down at a place with water, perhaps? A small food place or something. Tea or Yerba Mate if you have."

[color:ee0d=c6e2ff]"Fine. Come with me." Amani sighed. People were so needy. A cooler place? Really? An alleyway was just fine! But she probably wasn't going to like hearing Mirai complain, so she decided to take them to a nearby inn. She threw in her cloakm and covered her head. She then led them down the road with saying a word. Amani wasn't exactly happy.

They stopped in front of a surprisingly nice inn. A sign read: THE MIRAGE INN

Amani walked into the building with the two people behind her. The bar section was mostly empty at the moment, but a barmaid was cleaning a table. Amani approached her. "Yasmine, I need to use a room for a meeting." She said.

Without even acting surprised, the barmaid handed her a key from her waist. "Alright, boss." She replied. "I also have some information for you."

Amani nodded. "Alright. I'll have Jahan come by tomorrow, and you can relay the information to her." The barmaid nodded and began leaving the room, but Manali called out to her. "Oh and Yasmine? Think you can get us some Yerba Mate?"

Yasmine sighed. "I suppose. You're lucky we're having a slow day today." She then headed off to the kitchen.

Amani led Mirai and Wanyu to a room at the top of the inn. She used the key to open a lovely room with comfy looking furniture. She sat on a chair and motioned for the other two to do as well. "Before you ask, that's Yasmine. One of my contacts in the city. She gives me information on people and places here."

Amani yawned and leaned forward. "But that's irrelevant. What's the first question?"

Mirai glanced at Wanyu for a moment and then back at Amani. Her eyes narrowed as she tilted her head.

"Well, I'd like to know more about you," she said. [color=gold]"A country is only as good as its citizens. Therefore, I want to know why a woman of your, hmm, what's the word...potential griping around in the sand and doing dirty work such as this. Surely you could make a better future being a huntress, perhaps, or a guard with your swiftness."

Amani raised an eyebrow. A low chuckle scape from her mouth. "You think I would pledge my allegiance to one of these nobles? Or the sultan? Ha! Oh that's hilarious!" She laughed. "I've learned from a young age that this country is ran by the rich, underdogs like me get smashed by its mighty fists. Might as well fight back." Amani leaned back in her chair.

"Next question."

The blonde-haired girl smirked.

"Fair point," she said.

WShe had taken her fan out again. Obviously she was not used to the heat and she wouldn't be any time soon, but she definitely wasn't whining like she had before.

"I noticed that while you are a thief, you aren't one that works alone," she said. "The others were quick to follow your commands and dismiss keeping us put earlier. I take it you their leader?"

These questions seemed to be more about Amani than the whole country, which was suspicious in itself.

"Yep! The Opal Blades are my pride and joy, and with yours truly as the leader of it all." Amani replied. Her gang was just wonderful, and she enjoyed managing it. Something about running a gang gave her a lot of excitement. Amani pulled out her scimitar and showed the duo the hilt. A glittering opal rested on it. "If you see someone that has an opal in their blade, they're one of mine."

A loud knock pounded on the door. It opened and Yasmine walked in carrying a tray with three large gourds on it. They were hollow, and a hot liquid sat within. She placed the tray down, and handed out the drinks. Mirai would notice a beautiful necklace hanging from the barmaid's neck. It was a pendant with a similar looking opal in it. Yasmine then bowed politely and left the room with saying a word.

"Perfect timing!" Amani chuckled. "Oh and before you ask, my contacts usually have something with an opal in it as well. So they're part of the gang, but don't exactly do heists or anything." She explained.

Amani took a sip of the Yerba Mate. And smirked, "Now, my dear. Are you going to ask a question about Saadedge? Or am I the new topic?"

"A person's situation is valuable in learning more about the country," Mirai said plainly. "You don't seem to have a thing for the government, and many others I've seen are suffering here. Granted, it must mean your ruler's not doing the best job in making his citizens happy. What about the activity of Incantii and monsters?"