[Mkguild] First Steps (8/?)

[Azariah Wolf]

Just decided that I really wanted to write this after today's Bash 
activities.  Go figure.

-LurkingWolf

____________

Lois jolted awake, nearly rolling completely from his bed before he 
righted himself.He lay back on his bed for a few moments, simply 
catching his breath for a few moments.This was not the first time that 
he had woken up this time.It was actually, in all likelihood, the tenth 
time he had done it the past two weeks, with the four missed days more 
because he had not had a single period where he had actually slept on 
those days.As an assassin, he had become quite skilled in resting his 
body and mind without completely losing track of what was going on.So 
far, that state of semi-consciousness was the only way he could manage 
any rest without being plagued by dreams.

Sighing, the ermine dragged himself from his bed.He stretched out to his 
full length; not very long ago he had been losing a good bit of his 
characteristic flexibility to age.He hated to admit it, but even his 
strict routine of exercise couldn't fix all of his ills.Fortunately, the 
Curse had helped heal some of that; not only was he able to stretch 
fully again, but the extra length added to his body helped him extend 
further.

He bobbed back on the balls of his feet for a few moments, breathing 
softly to try to calm his still-frayed nerves.The dream had already 
gone, but the simple fact that there had been a dream at all made him 
uncomfortable.He had always had occasional, quite strong nightmares, but 
they had worsened since he had arrived at the Keep.Maybe the wanderlust 
was getting to him, but going out on patrol had hardly helped.Also, 
during his waking hours, he had not experienced any doubts about his 
decision.He wasn't one to hide something from himself, not after all of 
his years as an assassin.That was the best way to drive himself to the 
brink of suicide.His confidence in that ability, however, just made the 
dreams even more worrisome.

Just as Lois was about to continue his morning routine, whether it was 
morning or not, he noticed his pack sitting by the writing desk Kyia had 
provided.He squinted at it, wondering if it had moved since the last 
time he touched it.He walked over to it and looked through it for a 
little bit.Finding everything as he expected, he took a wary glance 
around the room.He pulled out his pipe from within the depths of the 
bag, quickly lighting it and taking a few puffs to settle his nerves.

He threw a cloak over his shoulders and stepped out from the room, bare 
claws clicking across the stones of the Keep as he stepped into the 
hall.Glancing either way, he took a quick puff from his pipe and 
strolled down the stone hallways.The sound of his claws was his constant 
companion, and the occasional puffs of smoke tested his more sensitive 
nose's endurance.Normally he would not have resorted to smoking away his 
stress, but some occasions called for more than his quiet introspection 
could provide.

He soon found himself standing in the familiar chamber he had been 
training in with Paula for the last few days.A slate grey sky greeted 
him from the ledge that dominated the far wall.As he had suspected, the 
sun was nowhere to be seen, and it likely wouldn't find the horizon for 
a good hour or so.

Lois stood there for a few moments, running his claws across cracks that 
he had caused yesterday during one of the more strenuous drills.He 
hadn't been hitting hard; the cracks were Paula's fault as she had 
foreseen his strike by enough to drive his arm away before he could even 
get close to her.His hand had smarted for a while, but it had at least 
proven his thought that she was learning quickly.

It was amazing how real it looked.

"There never was a first nightmare, was there?" he asked, eyes still 
fixed on the sky.

There was a chuckle from behind him."Very good, Lois.I was wondering 
there when you started walking about Metamor half-naked.The cloak is 
quite fine, but it's not your usual style."A dark figure stepped up to 
the rail and clasped the stone railing in both hands."I'm impressed; I 
thought you were losing track of reality there for a while."

Lois shook his head."I can hardly be fooled when there are two of me 
running around, particularly one who is unCursed as of yet."

The figure drew back his cloak, showing the familiar face that Lois had 
worn for the last few years before Metamor had changed it all.The hard, 
steel-blue eyes that had only ever looked at him from within the mirror 
now gave him the same self-assured, predatory look that he had given to 
so many assassination marks in the past.More than that, the ma beside 
him was the assassin he had sought to eliminate for so many years; the 
signature scar across his face was missing, not yet cut by the lutin 
blade during his tenure as a bounty hunter.

"Well, I doubt you mind it.Two of you, I mean," the human said, 
continuing from the ermines last thought."With two of us, we could set 
up some interesting assassination scenarios.Witnesses on both sides of 
the Keep seeing Vincent Lois, both Cursed and unCursed, killing two 
different important figures, with two ensuing chases both resulting in 
the Watch being utterly confused..."

"No."

"I haven't even named the targets yet, and besides, you've already 
determined that this is a dream.What is the harm in some...More violent 
fantasies for the evening?"

"I swore that life off, and I don't mean to go back," the ermine 
insisted.He showed his impressively sharp teeth to his human self, but 
got little reaction back.

"Well, I haven't sworn it off.What if I were to go and find some Duke or 
other to slaughter?What would you do, as the upstanding citizen that you 
have become?"

Lois sighed quietly, turning back to the city."I've sworn my allegiance 
to Duke Thomas.I would have to defend him from you."

"All right, quickly, and without asking you to elaborate on exactly how 
you would do that, I can point out two glaring flaws in that plan.First, 
I am you; killing me would have to cause some sort of conflict in the 
ebb and flow of the universe---"

"This is also a dream, and regardless, you are a part of me that I could 
stand losing."

"Second, you're not exactly equipped to take down an assassin."

The ermine gave a thin smile."By the way, that was another tell that 
gave away the dream.You have my equipment; there wasn't any more 
equipment anywhere in the room when I woke up."He took a puff on his 
pipe, nearly forgotten throughout the conversation. "Also, the sun 
should have risen already."

His human self seemed to take offense."That is very definitely a stormy 
sky.The sun is up; it's simply behind the clouds."

Lois shook his head and turned back for the hallway."Sunlight, or it 
never happened," he mumbled."No day is this grey.At any rate, have fun 
playing games in this world.I have another world to get back to, where 
the sun is probably already quite high and waiting for me."

His human doppelganger watched him go for a few moments."How long can 
you go without resting, Lois?"The ermine stopped to let the human 
continue."Think about it; with me here, I know you're going to be trying 
to avoid sleep at any cost.No matter how well trained you are, you will 
fall asleep sometime, and when you do, I'll be here, and you know that 
our interactions won't be so friendly in the future.You had best come 
prepared."

Lois shook his head and stepped down the curiously-black hallway before 
him.Within moments, the quiet echo of his claws stopped, and his eyes 
opened.He felt far more calm now, but his connection to reality was 
somewhat tenuous at present.He checked the room again just to be 
certain.It was a relief to find everything as it should be, but it still 
took Lois a little while to convince himself of reality.The dreams were 
getting worse, and he had no desire to find out where they were all 
leading.
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